The writing may be on the wall for common fund orders in class actions that put all unregistered group members on the hook for a litigation funder’s commission, after the High Court agreed Wednesday to take up landmark challenges by Westpac and BMW, experts say.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has dropped its probe into Blue Sky over possible violations of its continuous disclosure obligations, but the fund manager still faces three active shareholder class action investigations.
The High Court has granted applications by Westpac and BMW to weigh in on the validity of common fund orders made in class actions, a decision that could have major ramifications for the way representative proceedings are funded.
Ratepayers in a class action against a Queensland city council calling for the recovery of an invalid levy on their land failed in their bid to summarily dismiss the council’s defence that the unreturned portion of the charges was spent for their benefit.
A judge has signed off on the lead applicants’ bid to expand the current group definition in a class action against Johnson & Johnson unit Ethicon over allegedly defective vaginal mesh products, saying there was “no reason in logic” why the request should be denied.
The sought-after commission at the centre of an unsuccessful common fund application in a class action over the use of toxic foam at a RAAF base near Katherine, NT has been revealed as 15% of any gross recovery in the case plus up to three and a half times the funder’s costs.
A judge has tossed an application for a common fund order in a class action over the use of toxic foam on a RAAF base near Katherine, NT after a barrister for the lead applicants said the bid would be withdrawn if the judge appointed an independent “contradictor” to scrutinise the proposed funding structure.
By putting its name on allegedly defective vaginal mesh implants, American Medical Systems held itself out as the manufacture of those devices, according to an amended class action pleading that addresses the medical device maker’s assertion that a subsidiary made the devices after May 2012.
Funding for a shareholder class action against mineral sands company Iluka Resources is in doubt after Harbour Litigation Funding unilaterally backed out of an agreement to finance the litigation.
A judge overseeing three toxic foam class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia has said he’s not comfortable approving a common fund order which does not detail specific remuneration amounts for funder IMF Bentham.