Maurice Blackburn

A recently appointed High Court judge has warned against state and federal courts competing to attract cases, expressing concerns the appearance of impartiality could be compromised if courts sought to “drum up business at the expense of defendants”. 

Courts have taken differing views on whether they should order class closure, which requires group members to register for a class action, and the “deadlock” may require High Court intervention or legislative amendment to be resolved, an expert has said.

Insurer Lloyd’s in not on the hook for losses arising from a cancelled 2019 music festival, with a judge finding the Black Summer bushfires did not render cancellation necessary as was required for coverage under the relevant insurance policy.

AMP has lost its bid for soft class closure in a class action over allegedly excessive superannuation fees, with a judge finding the court should exercise “real caution” when class closure is opposed by the applicant. 

A landmark $230 million settlement in an underpayments class action on behalf of junior doctors in NSW shows employment group proceedings are “viable and attractive” and may encourage more players to pursue representative cases on behalf of workers, according to class action experts.

Tens of thousands of junior doctors who allege they were systemically underpaid have reached a $230 million settlement with NSW Health, the largest settlement ever in an underpayments class action.

A subsidiary of hospitality giant Mantle Group has failed to set aside a Fair Work Commission decision finding it systematically underpaid employees and gave “knowingly false” evidence, with an appeals court refusing to find the decision gave rise to the appearance of bias.

As the head of Maurice Blackburn’s class actions group he helped win hundreds of millions of dollars for claimants and shaped the jurisprudence around the practice. As the Victorian Supreme Court’s newest judge, Andrew Watson has promised to keep up the fight for fair.

The NSW Court of Appeal has said it has no power to exclude group members who do not sign up to a class action from participating in a settlement, upholding a controversial decision that the Full Federal Court said was “plainly wrong”. 

The former head of legal for the West Gate Tunnel project has sued toll road operator Transurban, alleging she was made redundant after complaining about “a culture of fear and intimidation” on the project.