Slater & Gordon is poised to go private in an off-market takeover by Allegro Funds valuing the company at 55 cents per share, 16 years after it became the first law firm to list on the ASX, reaching a peak valuation of $2.8 billion.
A four-way fight to lead a shareholder class action against Star Entertainment could be on the cards after a fourth law firm filed a representative proceeding alleging the company’s share price plummeted following revelations of alleged money-laundering breaches.
Star Entertainment is facing a third shareholder class action alleging it failed to disclose material information about its compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations, after being slapped with $200 million in fines by state gambling regulators.
The NSW government has struck back at a class action over allegedly unlawful police strip searches at 50 music festivals, saying the state is immune from personal injury claims because police officers had a reasonable suspicion group members were in possession of illegal drugs.
In reasons for approving a $41 million deal to settle one of three shareholder class actions over Slater & Gordon’s acquisition of a UK firm and awarding the funder 28 per cent, a judge has challenged a persistent notion that the interests of litigation funders and group members are at odds.
Class action settlement sums reached new highs last year, with the ten largest agreements totalling almost $1 billion, almost half of which was secured by one plaintiff law firm.
Westpac has agreed to pay $29.95 million to settle a class action alleging subsidiaries BT Funds Management Limited and Westpac Life Insurance Services Limited charged customers excessive superannuation fees between 2007 and 2019.
A recent ruling cutting the contingency fee sought by a plaintiff law firm shows competition to run class actions will drive down the percentage payout courts are willing to permit. And as more firms enter the market for a slice of the returns, the downward pressure on profits will only build.
The NSW government will move to de-class a representative proceeding over police strip searches at 50 music festivals, after a judge cast doubt on whether the case should be run as a class action.
The High Court has unanimously dismissed Western Power’s challenge to a judgment which found the state-owned electricity supplier breached its duty of care to inspect power poles on private land and was partly liable for property damage from the 2014 Perth Hills bushfire.