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 hearing in the Federal Government’s latest inquiry into class actions kicked off Monday with attacks on the credibility of one of the heads of Liberal think tank the Menzies Research Centre, who was excoriated by a Labor senator for providing “unsubstantiated” data from Herbert Smith Freehills that group members receive on average 39 per cent of class action proceeds.
A judge has warned counsel leading a shareholder class action against logistics provider GetSwift that “real persuasion” would be needed to convince him to allow the class to expand its case two months out from trial.
A judge has pushed off a heated contest between law firms vying to lead a shareholder class action against construction giant Boral for what could be a year as a landmark High Court challenge plays out.
A judge on Friday dismissed Westpac’s bid for an update from litigation funder JustKapital as to whether it continues to financially back a class action against the bank over allegedly excessive insurance premiums.
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.
Two law firms that filed competing shareholder class actions against construction giant Boral have asked the court to permanently stay the other’s proceeding, after the judge overseeing the matter said he might wait until the High Court’s ruling on the AMP class action beauty parade before deciding which class action should move forward.
Global animal health company Zoetis has told the lead applicants in a class action over horse vaccines to “put up or shut up” and produce evidence disclosing an alleged scientific link between the hendra virus vaccine and certain alleged adverse side effects.
A judge has adjourned an interlocutory application because of deficient pleadings in a class action brought against three medical device manufacturers and a former doctor on behalf of thousands of women who claim to have suffered lifelong complications from pelvic mesh implants.
Shine Lawyers has been given the go ahead to use two reports produced in three settled PFAS class actions as evidence in its latest case over the Defence Department’s firefighting foam, with a judge saying any implied undertaking not to re-use the material lost force when the information became public.