Group members in a recently settled class action against Westpac unit BankSA over its conduct in connection with convicted Ponzi schemer Michael Samra are expected to get 40 per cent of the confidential settlement, a result a judge said wasn’t as bad as he might have feared.
Fitch Ratings has agreed to settle the last of the investor class actions in Australia flowing from the global financial crisis, a court heard Friday.
A judge overseeing the pelvic mesh class action against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon has questioned why three doctor’s professional bodies tried to negotiate court orders requiring them to hand over their member lists, agreeing the supboena was “not a garden party invitation”.
A judge has told the lead plaintiff in a class action over allegedly excessive legal fees to get their āhouse in orderā, amid complaints by the Queensland compensation law firm at the centre of the dispute that the litigation is ācosting them a fortuneā.
Rival law firms Phi Finney McDonald and Maurice Blackburn have offered to consolidate their competing shareholder class actions against BHP after prompting by the Full Federal Court, which said Friday it approved of the plan.
Shareholders of troubled sandalwood producer Quintis who are eligible group members in two consolidated class actions against the company can bet on which of the two cases will give them the best returns, if any, and the Federal Court has appointed an independent lawyer to help them make the choice.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has asked a court to impose penalties of up to $36 million on an AMP subsidiary for failing to take reasonable steps to stop its representatives from churning life insurance policies.
A judge has baulked at an application by labour hire company Chandler Macleod and BHP unit Mt Arthur Coal seeking security for their legal costs in two casual worker class actions, saying Fair Work cases were not the same as shareholder class actions.
Noting the relevant three-year limitations provision was “quite unusal”, the judge overseeing a consumer class action against horse vaccine manufacturer Zoetis has given the class a chance to add a second applicant to the case, after it was revealed that part of the lead applicant’s claim was out of time.Ā
A judge has hit the applicant in a sham contraction class action against Appco with costs for forcing the company to file a defence to a superseded pleading, saying the usual “no costs” rule in Fair Work cases had less force in actions backed by third party litigation funders.