Federal Court Justice Michael Lee is set to go out in the field on a nationwide tour to personally inspect the military bases and surrounding properties at the heart of three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over land contamination from allegedly toxic firefighting foam.
Quintis founder Frank Wilson has won his bid for unredacted transcripts of ASIC examinations with six former directors of the failed sandalwood company.
The High Court has granted a Nigerian agent tricked into terminating his contract with international bank note manufacturer CCL Secure special leave to appeal a Full Federal Court judgment slashing a $65 million award in his favour.
Responding to a class action on behalf of over 250,000 car owners, auto giant Toyota has admitted issues with filters in three of its diesel vehicle models but says drivers who failed to respond to warning lights in their cars could not clam damages for any breaches of quality guarantees.
A judge’s decision refusing to approve a $42 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Murray Goulburn because of a “too high” funder’s commission has set the stage for a showdown over the power of courts to alter funding agreements, a battle potentially more consequential than the fight over common fund orders now before the High Court.
Cash Converters has agreed to pay $42.5 million to settle a class action brought on behalf of consumers that took out personal loans, after reaching a $16.4 million settlement last year in a class action over interest charged on short-term loans.
A judge has signed off on a settlement of a long-running class action against Westpac unit BankSA, and has ruled the law firm that brought the case has an equitable right to unpaid legal costs for investigating the case before it found a funder.
ANZ has rejected allegations by the financial regulator that $35 million in fees charged to customers for periodical payments between accounts was unlawful, saying the regulator’s case extended the scope of false and misleading representation claims.
The litigation funder bankrolling a new class action against Toyota over allegedly faulty filters in its diesel models is looking to earn a step-up commission of between 20 and 30 percent of any recovery in the case.
A landmark ruling has found judges have the power to order security against litigation funders backing Fair Work class actions, in a decision that could change the landscape of representative proceedings.