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.
The Australian supplier of alleged combustible cladding is opposing a class action applicant’s bid for information ahead of settlement talks on the quantity of cladding sold in the country between 2009 and 2019.
A contradictor in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has opposed Shine Lawyers recovering $100 million in costs from a $300 million settlement, which a judge has preliminarily found is not fair and reasonable to group members.
Avant Insurance has lost its bid to challenge a ruling which put it on the hook for indemnifying a plastic surgeon in class action proceedings over allegedly botched breast augmentations at a defunct NSW clinic.
A judge overseeing a class action against a unit of Suncorp Group has given his blessing to a settlement that will see only $14 million of its headline $33 million figure go to super members, despite finding the modest return was “far short of the maximum potential recovery” in the case.
A judge weighing a $29.5 million settlement in a class action against recycling company Sims Limited has questioned the court’s power to vary the funding agreement between the applicant and funder, which seeks to pass on its insurance costs to group members as well as recoup costs and earn a commission.
Property owners are fighting arguments that claims in a class action over allegedly combustible cladding do not fall under a $190 million insurance policy’s definition of property damage, saying installing the cladding was like “dousing one’s house in kerosene”.
Insurer for cladding manufacturer Fairview Architectural, Vero Insurance, will argue a $190 million policy does not cover claims in a class action alleging combustible cladding caused losses for property owners, a court has heard.
Two law firms that filed competing class actions against regenerative medicine company Mesoblast for allegedly misleading shareholders about its Remestemcel-L treatment for COVID-19 complications have agreed to join forces and sidestep a beauty parade.
A judge has ordered that the lead applicant in a class action against German cladding manufacturer 3A Composites give further details on how its allegedly combustible cladding caused losses for property owners.