The lead plaintiffs in two shareholder class actions against Dick Smith can amend their case against accounting firm Deloitte, less than two months before a mammoth hearing is set to commence.
Running a law firm is not without risk, chief among them staring down a lawsuit by a client, an ex-partner or employee, even a rival firm. Last year, Australian firms faced numerous actions alleging everything from sex discrimination to negligence.
Companies and other defendants forked over big sums last year to settle more than 20 class actions, with a total of at least $734 million being paid out. Here are the top 10 class action settlements and the law firms and funders that negotiated them.Ā
A Federal Court judge has slapped Volkswagen with a record $125 million penalty over its emissions cheating scandal after expressing outrage at a āmanifestly inadequateā $75 million settlement agreement reached with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
A judge overseeing a consolidated class action against four AMP subsidiaries and two trustees over allegedly excessive superannuation fees has ordered the respondents to coordinate after the lead applicants raised concerns about duplication of work.
The applicants in a group of class actions over defective Takata airbags are pushing ahead with a challenge to the power of the NSW Supreme Court to issue class closure orders in the aftermath of a High Court decision shooting down common fund orders, a fight that could send the cases back to the High Court.Ā
The judge overseeing the settlement approval process in multiple class actions against Volkswagen over the diesel emissions scandal has criticised an application for a common fund order by the funder backing two Bannister Law-led lawsuits.
There is a “reasonable chance” that two shareholder class actions against failed electronics retailer Dick Smith will settle by February of next year, group members have learned.
A Federal Court judge has slapped Optus with a $6.4 million penalty for sending a misleading email to 138,988 mobile customers informing them their broadband service would be disconnected soon, just two days after the telecommunications giant copped a $1.5 million penalty for similar conduct.
Accounting giant Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu will not face cross claims over the collapse of failed retailer Dick Smith when a hearing of three shareholder class actions kicks off in three months.