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.
US car giant Ford has partially succeeded in its challenge to a judgment that found it owed more than $6,800 to the lead applicant in a class action over defective PowerShift transmissions, but the High Court may ultimately decide how damages should be calculated under the Australian Consumer Law for reduction in value.
A judge overseeing a class action against Optus has said there is scope for the teleco to seek redactions of portions of a Deloitte report, which he ruled last Friday failed the test for protection under legal professional privilege.
A judge has upheld a ruling that rejected a bid by two class actions against Victorian aged care providers for insurance and financial information, finding the court likely does not have the power to order the production of documents that are not relevant to the proceeding.
Optus has lost its fight to keep a class action from accessing an independent report by consulting giant Deloitte into last year’s major data breach.
Citibank has argued group members should be asked to sign on to a class action accusing five major banks of entering a cartel agreement to rig foreign exchange rates before evidence is filed in the case, saying it was impossible to know how much the claims were worth.
The Full Federal Court has answered a question vexing the court for the past four years, ruling that class action judges have the power to make common fund orders at settlement that allow litigation funders to reap a percentage commission beyond their contractual entitlement.
The Full Federal Court’s finding that the High Court did not extinguish the power of judges to make common fund orders on approval of class action settlements is the latest milestone in the evolution of Australian class action jurisprudence, experts say.
A judge has declined a union’s bid to throw out an employee class action against McDonald’s after the Full Federal Court confirmed that employee class actions are not precluded by the Fair Work Act.
A Federal Court judge’s endorsement of the novel idea of a ‘solicitors’ common fund order’ may reverse the trend of class action lawyers running to the Supreme Court of Victoria, where they can earn a contingency fee, to file their cases.