Two judges on the Full Court bench hearing arguments over power to make common fund orders when approving class action settlements appeared to tip their hand on Monday, chipping away at a High Court judgment that has sowed deep division.
A judge has approved a $12 million payment to the funder of two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven, even as the funder plans to appeal a decision rejecting its bid for a common fund order for a $24.5 million commission.
The Albanese government will urge the court to shut down a Shine Lawyers-led class action against McDonald’s for allegedly denying workers rest breaks and allow a similar $250 million case by the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association to proceed instead.
A judge has questioned a bid by cruise operator Scenic Tours to water down a class action brought over a series of European cruises that went ahead in 2018 despite a record-breaking drought that saw river levels drop so low they became impassable.
A judge has declined a bid by former United Petroleum franchisees to stay two Federal Court proceedings in light of a class action against the petrol giant over the introduction of loss-making Pie Face stores, finding the suits have little in common.
A judge has largely approved the funder’s commission and legal fees to be deducted from a $192.5 million settlement of a class action against oil company PTTEP, despite the costs halving the amount to go to group members.
A judge has ordered a litigation funder and the lead applicant in a settled class action to personally mediate a stoush over expenses, saying he doubted the applicant’s $1.2 million claim and said the court is “not a place for their sport”.
A law firm has won its second bid for a group costs order in three class actions against banks over flexible commission schemes after a judge in 2021 rejected what was then the first-ever application for a contingency fee.
A class action against KPMG and nine former Gunns Plantations directors over the failure of six managed investment schemes for eucalyptus wood in Tasmania has settled for a confidential amount, with a judge poised to approve the deal.
S&P Global is fighting bids to expand a class action alleging systemic defects in its ratings systems to a new type of complex financial product and to include allegations from a US Department of Justice case in a separate suit by two Cayman Islands-based companies.