Maurice Blackburn

Accounting firms Pitcher Partners and Ernst & Young have blamed the lawyers who advised on Slater & Gordon’s disastrous $1.2 Quindell acquisition for the its massive losses in 2016, saying they failed to point out the “commercial misjudgment” of agreeing to the deal.

Accounting firms EY and Pitcher Partners ignored “front page news” that Slater & Gordon’s acquired business Quindell was scrutinised by a UK regulator after reporting a $250 million (£137 million) loss, a court heard on the second day of trial in a class action by the law firm’s shareholders.

Accounting firm Pitcher Partners gave faulty advice ahead of Slater & Gordon’s disastrous $1.2 billion Quindell acquisition that was responsible for $800 million in the business’ value “disappearing” within six months, a court heard on the first day of trial in a long-running class action by the law firm’s shareholders.

Maurice Blackburn is being sued by a factory worker who claims the law firm’s negligence in failing to file a lawsuit on time cost him the opportunity to recoup significant damages from his former employer for physical and psychological injuries sustained while on the job.

The Northern Territory’s agreement to pay $35 million to settle a class action on behalf of 1,200 young people who allegedly suffered human rights abuses while in detention was a “discount” on the claimed value of compensation owed, a court has heard.

A judge has ordered a class action against AMP to provide more detail in its case accusing the financial services firm of failing to disclose information to shareholders about allegedly misleading ASIC and charging clients fees for no service.

Crown Resorts has reached a $125 million settlement in a shareholder class action, avoiding a six-week trial scheduled to begin on Monday.

A settlement in the class action against Crown Resorts put paid to an in-person trial before it began, but gathering in court on Friday to notify the presiding judge of the happy outcome was enough to remind the Victorian litigators what they had missed over the past 18 months.

A judge has given the green light to amended pleadings in a class action accusing major banks of entering a cartel agreement to rig foreign exchange rates, bringing a two-year fight over the pleadings closer to resolution.

Legislation capping litigation funder returns in class actions to 30 per cent and requiring group members to sign up to funding schemes has been introduced to federal parliament despite widespread criticism.