William Edwards

Construction giant Boral has lost its bid to block a class action from running a ‘novel’ argument that shareholders suffered loss because of natural fluctuations in share price, rather than as a direct result of alleged continuous disclosure breaches. 

Awaiting judgment in Federal Court class actions by shareholders over its money laundering risk disclosures, the Commonwealth Bank will ask the court to reopen the case to consider the relevance of two recent decisions that found shareholders in other class actions had failed to prove loss.

New Zealand construction giant Fletcher Building has hit back at a shareholder class action over allegedly misleading forecasts for the 2017 financial year, saying some of the claims under New Zealand law were brought out of time.

Companies and government entities paid out less to settle class actions in 2023 than in the previous two years, with no mega settlements hitting their pocketbooks.

A judge has signed off on a $26 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Ardent Leisure over the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy, including $7.8 million for the funder that backed the case and $5 million in legal costs.

Weeks after giving the thumbs up to common fund orders at settlement, the Full Federal Court has been asked to decide whether judges have power to order payment of a commission to class action solicitors — not just funders.

Optus has lodged an appeal of a judgment that found the teleco could not claim legal professional privilege to shield from a class action a report by consulting giant Deloitte into last year’s major data breach.

A judge has reluctantly granted extensions in a class action over QSuper’s alleged failure to notify members of changes to its premiums, saying the delay in the two-year old case was “very disappointing”.

A law firm that brought class actions against Hyundai and Kia over alleged faulty anti-lock braking systems has been replaced ahead of a contest against Maurice Blackburn to run the cases. 

Optus is considering an appeal of a judgment allowing a class action to access a report from Deloitte into last year’s major data breach, saying its release could raise national security concerns.