GetSwift managing director and founder Joel Macdonald faces a lawsuit by former Melbourne Demons teammate James Strauss, who helped launch the strife-ridden logistics tech company seven years ago.
Logistics company GetSwift will argue on appeal that a judge who found the company took a “PR-driven approach” to ASX statements was wrong in his assessment of whether those statements contained material omissions.
If evidence were needed that courts are not rubber stamping class action settlements, the scrutiny of multi-million dollar agreements in 2021 is proof positive that judicial oversight of representative proceedings is robust.
A judge has dressed down ASIC over the handling of its action against GetSwift, criticising the regulator’s failure to seek a court injunction to prevent the company’s relocation to Canada.
A judge has indicated he will approve the ‘very low’ GetSwift class action settlement because the company appeared to be broke, but the law firm behind the case has been pulled up by the court for a previous costs estimate that has blown out by $3 million.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has scored a victory in its long-running case against GetSwift, with the Federal Court finding the company and its directors breached the Corporations Act and ASIC Act through their “public relations-driven approach” to announcements on the Australian Stock Exchange.
A judge has criticised a proposed settlement notice in a shareholder class action against GetSwift for failing to inform group members of how much they would receive from the “very light” settlement, which relies heavily on the logistics firm’s success after relocating out of Australia.
Logistics company GetSwift’s settlement of a shareholder class action will see group members share in $1.5 million cash plus access to further funds and revenue raised by the company over a three-year period.
As the no win, no fee model comes out on top in another high profile class action beauty contest, legal experts say third-party litigation funders will need to evolve and “fight back” to stay competitive.
GetSwift has triumphed in its bid to disqualify a judge who refused to recuse himself from hearing a shareholder class action against the logistics software company after presiding over ASIC’s civil penalty proceeding against the company.