Shine Lawyers

A judge has blessed a $132.7 million settlement and a $33 million common fund order in a class action over toxic firefighting foam, saying he was “not vexed” by whether he had power to grant the funder’s payout despite the Full Court having reserved on the contentious issue. 

After surviving multiple strike-out bids, a class action against Carnival over norovirus outbreaks on its Sun Princess cruise ship is still facing a “lurking” issue about a potential stay in relation to the claims of a subset of group members.

A class action against Carnival over norovirus outbreaks on its Sun Princess cruise ship has defeated the cruise operator’s second strike out bid, with a judge saying the failure to identify what exactly went wrong “may not be fatal” to the case.

A Blue Sky director has pointed the finger at auditor Ernst & Young in a class action alleging the collapsed investment firm misled shareholders by misstating its assets under management. 

A judge has refused a lead applicant’s novel bid for financial information to use at settlement discussions in a group proceeding against Dixon Advisory.

Class actions throw up all manner of ethical conundrums, but a recent Federal Court decision has shined a light on the question of whether funders and law firms should take out loans to run class actions and whether they can charge the costs to group members.

Shine Lawyers has lost its bid to recover $32 million in interest on a loan it took out to run two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson, with a judge finding it would make a “marginal settlement less than reasonable”.

The High Court has found a Whitsundays resort is not vicariously liable for the actions of an employee who urinated on his roommate in staff accommodation after a night of drinking, finding the act had “no real connection” to his employment.

Auditor Ernst & Young has filed cross-claims against Blue Sky in a shareholder class action accusing the collapsed investment firm of misleading shareholders by misstating its assets under management.

Shine Lawyers’ bid to recoup “exorbitant” interest on a loan it took out to run pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has raised new ethical dilemmas beyond the usual “sweaty palms and huge vexation” in most group proceedings, a judge has said.