Litigation funder Investor Claim Partner won’t promise it will maintain a lower commission rate in one of the Dick Smith class actions if mediation is delayed to next year.
A key prospective witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case who has accused the war hero of domestic violence has described “genuine fears” for her mental and physical health if her identity were made public.
The court’s authority to shut down competing class actions is no longer in doubt after Tuesday’s Full Federal Court judgment in the case against GetSwift, and while there is no “silver bullet” when it comes to how judges must deal with multiple proceedings, there are key factors to weigh, the appeals court said. Here, experts provide the big takeaways from the landmark ruling.
Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald have sidestepped a competing class action battle in the high-stakes litigation against Commonwealth Bank of Australia over alleged breaches of money laundering laws, with the firms proposing to jointly lead a consolidated class action against the bank.
Two founders of the Kaden Boriss international network of law firms have had a copyright case over the company’s name and logo thrown out, after a heated spat between partners led to the break-off of the group’s Sydney office.
Westpac-owned BankSA has admitted that convicted Ponzi schemer Michael Samra withdrew funds at “near excess” of the bank’s limits and had insufficient money to honour cheques drawn on his company’s bank account.
A Dick Smith shareholder has lost his bid to bring a separate proceeding against the failed home goods retailer while two class actions are afoot.
The scope of the government’s power to detain individuals is “a matter of considerable public importance”, a judge has said, shooting down the Commonwealth’s bid for costs after it won the dismissal of a class action brought on behalf of asylum seekers who allege they were unlawfully imprisoned in Australian immigration detention centres.
Energy drink giant Monster Energy has dropped its challenge to a ruling allowing alcoholic spirits wholesaler Fernbrew to trade mark the term ‘Real Beast’ for alcoholic beverages.
The Full Federal Court has dismissed a challenge to a ruling that chose one of three shareholder class actions to proceed against GetSwift, saying the court had the power to permanently stay competing cases. But an injunction blocking the losing law firms from communicating with clients was going too far, it said.