The Chief Justice of the Federal Court wants four referees to weigh what’s expected to be voluminous expert evidence in three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over exposure to allegedly toxic foam used on a government military bases, saying with 60 class actions pending in the Federal Court, devoting a single judge to the case for months on end should be a “mechanism of last resort”.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission wants to add GetSwift’s former inhouse lawyer as a respondent in its enforcement action against the logistics company, as debate rages over whether a class action against the company should be postponed.
The courts should be given express statutory power to resolve competing class actions that establishes the factors to consider when picking a winning case, a leading class action judge has said.
Common fund orders in class actions are legal and not unconstitutional, six judges found Friday after a history-making joint sitting of two appeals courts.
GetSwift has warned it may seek an injunction blocking Johnson Winter & Slattery from acting as instructing lawyers to the corporate cop in its enforcement action against the logistics company, saying the firm provided advisory work for it last year.
The Full Court of the Federal Court has shot down a bid by the Victorian Government to intervene a second time in a long-running bargaining dispute between Esso Australia and three key Australian unions over its Bass Strait offshore oil and gas operations.
A judge won’t defer the opt-out notice in a shareholder class action against GetSwift pending the High Court’s decision on a special leave application to revive a competing class action, saying the sooner the case settles the better.
The judge overseeing a class action against Ethicon over allegedly faulty pelvic mesh implants has shot down the device maker’s bid for a class closure order.
A judge has taken Qantas to task over its defence in a Fair Work case brought by the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association union over alleged underpayments to LA-based mechanics, calling the document “extremely unhelpful”.
An unprecedented joint-sitting of two appeals courts will this week hear a constitutional challenge to the power of judges to make so-called common fund orders, a challenge that could have significant ramifications for class actions even if they don’t fall foul of the ‘vibe of the thing’.