While shareholder class actions have been the bread and butter of litigation funders, a new report has revealed the rise of shareholder class actions brought by lawyers without the backing of third-party funding, especially in contingency fee-friendly Victoria.
The number of funded class actions in Australia has dipped in the two years since contingency fees were introduced in Victoria, but litigation funders are still important players in group proceedings, a new report shows.
The New South Wales Supreme Court has declined in popularity as a venue for class action litigation since contingency fees were introduced in Victoria, according to a new report.
A judge has approved a $50.45 million settlement in a class action by family members and deceased estates of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations. He has also approved a 13 per cent funding commission by way of a common fund order, saying debates about CFOs had become “lost in the label”.
KPMG has hit back at a shareholder class action over allegedly misleading statements made ahead of CuDeco’s collapse in 2020, placing blame on the defunct mining company, its directors and group members themselves.
Construction firm CIMIC has won its bid to view identifying information about institutional investors in a shareholder class action, despite the applicant’s claims it could deter group members from signing on to the case.
The High Court has rejected dam services provider Sunwater’s request that it weigh in on a dispute over insurance coverage for a $440 million class action settlement with victims of the 2010-2011 floods in Queensland.
The farmers leading a class action against Advanta Seeds over contaminated product have brought their case to the High Court, challenging an appeals court’s holding that a disclaimer nullified the company’s duty to protect growers against economic loss.
Carnival has won its bid to strike out a class action over norovirus outbreaks on its Sun Princess cruise ship.
Bayer told a jury that clinical trials from the 1990’s to 2014 showed its Essure birth control device was “safe and efficacious”, as the pharmaceutical giant faces trial in a class action by patients who claim they suffered debilitating injuries from the device.