Shine Lawyers

The winning, 14 per cent contingency fee proposal by Slater & Gordon in a fight to run a class action against Star Entertainment was not driven by a desire to prevail in the contest and buy market share but was the product of a “reasoned decision” that took into account the law firm’s practice as a whole, a judge has found.

One law firm has emerged victorious in a four-way contest to run a shareholder class action against Star Entertainment with the lowest proposed group costs order since contingency fees legislation was enacted in Victoria. 

The runner-up in a contest to administer Johnson & Johnson’s $300 million settlement of two pelvic mesh class actions has lost a challenge to a decision awarding the prize to the team of Slater & Gordon, BDO and the firm of former Shine Lawyers solicitor Jan Saddler.

While the use of artificial intelligence is becoming more commonplace in law firms, it has not yet transformed the practice of law, with lawyers reporting that concerns about privacy, reliability, and liability mean the application of AI remains limited.

A judge has rejected a bid by in-fighting group members to bar children and non-Aboriginal residents in the Wreck Bay community from receiving a cut of an approved $22 million settlement over alleged PFAS contamination.

Delays in court approval of settlements in their pelvic mesh class actions against US giants Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific have been blamed for Shine Lawyers’ 89.39 per cent decline in net profits for 2023.

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.