Justice Kathryn Stynes

A judge has ordered Crown Resorts to share the costs of soft class closure with the plaintiff in a shareholder class action accusing it of lax anti-money laundering compliance, saying that soft class closure ahead of mediation was in the interests of both parties. 

When the Supreme Court of Victoria considers for the first time a settlement reached in a class action run on a contingency fee basis, it will grapple with some novel questions, including whether to trim the 27.5 per cent group costs order granted to Slater & Gordon at the outset of the case, legal experts say.

Developer Centurion Australia Investments has lost an appeal in a dispute with builder APM Group in which it argued that its RMIT Village student accommodation falls under laws applying to domestic buildings. 

Crown Resorts is seeking $10 million in security for costs from the law firm running a shareholder class action accusing it of lax anti-money laundering compliance, arguing the sum is justified in light of the firm’s potential recovery under a tiered group costs order.

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought over a development in Melbourne’s north, citing “inordinate and inexcusable delay” on behalf of the collapsed developer and its builder, which replaced its solicitors seven times.

A judge has signed off on a 25 per cent group costs order in a class action against Suncorp subsidiary AAI, after accepting that the back-up plan of law firm Maurice Blackburn was not artificially uncertain.

A judge overseeing a class action against Suncorp subsidiary AAI has questioned whether the “uncertain” plan B of a law firm seeking a 25 per cent group costs order was artificially uncertain to increase the relative appeal of its contingency fee bid.

Three years on from their debut, group costs orders — which entitle law firms to a percentage of any recovery in class actions — have raised a host of novel issues that are keeping lawyers and the court busy.

A judge has approved a group costs order with a tiered contingency fee that will guarantee group members at least 72.5 per cent of any returns in a shareholder class action accusing Crown Resorts of lax anti-money laundering compliance over a six-year period.

A judge has questioned a tiered contingency fee arrangement in a proposed group costs order by the law firm running a shareholder class action against Crown, asking whether the lower-end percentages were “meaningless”.