A judge has signed off on a 27.5 per cent group costs order in a consolidated shareholder class action against Medibank over a cyberattack that affected 10 million customers, noting the “significant risk” taken on by the two plaintiff law firms running the action.
A former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner has sued the firm for denying him retirement payments for moving to alleged competitor DLA Piper and for his alleged involvement in the firm’s tax leaks crisis.
A shareholder class action against livestock exporter Wellard over a profit downgrade following its $300 million initial public offering in 2015 has settled for $23 million.
A judge has discontinued a class action by Victorian councils against insurer JLT Risk Solutions, but has departed from the decisions of two other judges by ruling the suspension of the time limit for bringing the councils’ claims will immediately be lifted.
The country’s most experienced class action law firm won two and lost two in last year’s beauty parades before the courts, showing track record is not everything when it comes to winning carriage of cases and that picking the winner can be a tricky business. From line-ball decisions to law firm team-ups and the lowest contingency fee order yet, here’s how 2023’s class action contests went down.
Energy company Santos has defeated a challenge by a Tiwi Islander traditional custodian to the construction of a pipeline for its $5.6 billion Barossa gas project, with a judge rejecting expert evidence about risks to cultural heritage.
Companies and government entities paid out less to settle class actions in 2023 than in the previous two years, with no mega settlements hitting their pocketbooks.
The funders that bankrolled a securities class action against collapsed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson will ask the court to give them an $8 million cut of a $40 million settlement. A further $12 million in legal fees means shareholders will get 50 per cent of the settlement sum.
Grocon has lost yet another argument over documents in its lawsuit against Infrastructure NSW over a stalled $2 billion Central Barangaroo development project, with a judge rejecting its bid to access material over which the government agency claimed privilege and public interest immunity.
A judge has signed off on a $26 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Ardent Leisure over the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy, including $7.8 million for the funder that backed the case and $5 million in legal costs.