An impending three-week trial for the Robodebt class action may be in danger due to stage 4 lockdown measures in place in Victoria to control a second wave of coronavirus cases, with the top lawyer for the class telling the court he might need to step down due to homeschooling obligations if the lockdown overlaps with the trial.
A judge has narrowed discovery in a class action against the Commonwealth of Australia over allegedly unlawful Robodebt payments, criticising the lead applicants for persisting with an approach to discovery that “was not a particularly helpful one”.
Elderly victims of Ponzi schemer Bradley Sherwin have told the government’s class action inquiry of their “horrendous class action journey”, which led to a “pathetic outcome” in which the majority of a $12 million settlement with the Bank of Queensland went to the law firm and funder behind the case.
A litigation funder’s average rate of return on its investment in shareholder class actions was one of a number of factors weighed by a judge in approving a 25 per cent funding cut from the $42 million settlement in a class action against dairy cooperative Murray Goulburn.
The parents of an Australian national who was killed aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 have successfully appealed a decision blocking them from participating in the settlement of a class action, with an appeals court judge describing as “disturbing” the conduct of their legal team in the group proceeding.
A judge has been accused of “very aggressively” raising issues with a barrister for the Federal Government over its failure to amend its defence in a $300 million class action centred on the Commonwealth’s controversial Robodebt scheme to match recent public admissions.
Domino’s is seeking to strike out portions of the “rolled up, confusing pleading” in a class action over alleged worker underpayments, saying the case cannot be brought under the consumer law.
Google has been ordered to hand over details of an online reviewer’s identity to gangland lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson so she can pursue a potential defamation and misleading and deceptive conduct case against the reviewer, which she alleges is a rival law firm.
Centrelink recipients eligible for a share of $721 million in refunds on debts paid as part of the controversial Robodebt scheme will not be asked to sign away their rights in an ongoing class action, but whether the Morrison Government will seek to shut down the case remains to be seen.
A judge has questioned ASIC’s proposed $5 million penalty against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, saying it was “on the light side” for the bank’s conduct in overcharging $8 million in fees on its agricultural products.