Insurance company Watchstone Group, which is facing a lawsuit by Slater & Gordon UK over a botched acquisition that brought the law firm to its knees, has secured approval to file a counterclaim alleging auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers engaged in “secret meetings” with the firm’s corporate finance adviser to gain leverage leading up to the deal.
Concerns about duplicative costs in multiple class actions are better addressed by case management decisions aimed at cutting excessive expense, not by limiting the amount lawyers representing group members can spend, the Full Federal Court has said in dismissing an appeal by baby food maker Bellamy’s.
Bellamy’s has lost its appeals court battle to limit the costs incurred by lawyers jointly running two shareholder class actions against the baby food maker.
A class action against National Australia Bank over allegedly worthless consumer credit insurance could be referred to the Full Federal Court just three months out from trial, amid concerns that the class action was not validly commenced.
The CFMEU will fund a landmark multi-million dollar class action against labour hire company Workpac seeking repayment of leave entitlements it claims are owed to more than 600 coalminers, in the latest casual employee challenge to hit the courts.
A judge overseeing competing class actions against AMP over allegedly excessive superannuation fees has signed off on an agreement by two rival law firms to consolidate their cases, avoiding a potentially costly and drawn out beauty parade.
AMP has added two law firms to separately represent its subidiaries in one of two class actions alleging it charged its superannuation members excessive fees.
Notwithstanding a recent increase in competing shareholder class actions, on the whole, competing class actions have remained unusual, and courts have demonstrated that they are well equipped to apply appropriate considerations and principles on a case by case basis, employing a range of case management tools to ensure justice is done without the need for legislative intervention, writes Slater & Gordon class action associate Victoria Sparks.
A judge on Friday asked the corporate regulator why it delayed action against former Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou and CFO Bradley Hingle until two years’ after the consumer watchdog brought its case against the pair.
A judge overseeing a consolidated shareholder class action against logistics company Brambles has expressed frustration with the parties, who are locked in an unresolved discovery battle three months after his order consolidating the litigation.