The High Court is poised this week to issue its judgment in a case challenging the validity of common fund orders in class actions, a ruling that could see litigation funding commission rates creep back up after hitting record lows.
The judge overseeing seven class actions against some of the world’s largest car makers over defective Takata airbags has ordered that class closure take place in advance of mediation, saying it was “time…for commercial reality to bite”.
The High Court has shut down a lawsuit by mortgage aggregator Connective Services over the transfer of one third of the company’s shares after finding the proceeding prejudiced shareholders and contravened the Corporations Act.
A challenge by Quinn Emanuel to a NSW Supreme Court decision staying its shareholder class action against AMP has been unanimously dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which found the class action beauty contest was not decided in error and that subsequently filed representative proceedings were not an abuse of process.
A Federal Court judge has dismissed an application by GetSwift to delay the hearing of a shareholder class action against it, despite arguments that a judge would need to be “superhuman” to hear the trial immediately after a civil penalty hearing brought by ASIC against the logistics company.
German-based 3A Composites has issued an ultimatum in the high-stakes combustible cladding class action against it, saying it will try to shut down the matter as a representative proceeding if group member registration and opt out are not initiated.
The judge overseeing a group of class actions against car manufacturers over faulty Takata airbags has questioned a simplified group registration and opt out process proposed by the law firm leading the cases, saying it would “invite a moronic approach” to sign up.
Insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson is facing a second class action on behalf of local councils claiming it charged inflated premiums.
3A Composites has slammed the pleadings in a class action against it over allegedly combustible cladding, questioning whether the stated common issues are actually common to all group members.
The barrister leading an appeal seeking to revive Quinn Emanuel’s fees for no service class action against AMP has criticised the approach taken in the landmark GetSwift ruling on competing class actions, saying it placed the court in the role of auctioneer and actually encouraged duplicative proceedings.