A judge has ordered that $1.27 million be set aside to cover the costs of the law firm administering the settlement in the class action over the federal government’s Robodebt scheme, cutting about $1 million from the figure sought.
The law firm administering the $112 million Robodebt class action settlement has asked a court to sign off on a $2.2 million bill to cover the full projected costs of distributing the funds, a figure three times the estimate calculated by a costs referee.
Fearing passage of a contentious bill in parliament that threatens to curb open class actions, plaintiffs law firms and funders have raced to court with new cases in the past two weeks.
Victoria’s Alfred and St Vincent’s hospitals are the targets of a new class action filed on behalf of junior doctors alleging they were not paid for unrostered work that included admitting patients and attending to medical emergencies.
Eastern Health and the Royal Women’s Hospital have become the latest hospital operators to be stung with a class action alleging they failed to pay junior doctors for unrostered work hours.
Insurers are misleading policyholders about class actions which seek compensation for those denied business interruption coverage for COVID-related shutdowns, a court has heard.
A judge has refused a bid by accounting firms Pitcher Partners and EY to access share trading data of unregistered group members in a securities class action over advice to Slater & Gordon, despite claims upcoming mediation will be “pointless” without the information.
While a first test case in NSW rejected insurers’ interpretation of infectious disease exclusions in COVID-19 business interruption policies, potentially putting the industry on the hook for billions of dollars in claims, QBE says the law is on its side in Victoria.
Insurance giant Lloyd’s has rejected what it calls an “incomprehensible” class action pleading by Australian businesses that argue its business interruption policies should have indemnified them for losses stemming from COVID-19 lockdowns.
Four Victorian hospital operators have been ordered not to talk with or propose settlements with junior doctors that are targeted in three class actions accusing them of failing to pay junior doctors for overtime hours worked.