A judge has rejected a class closure order application by the lead applicants in a class action against convenience store chain On The Run ahead of mediation, finding that the court does not have power to make such an order at a “relatively early” stage in a class action.
A judge has approved a $9.5 million settlement in a class action against McMillan Shakespeare as fair and reasonable, allowing a common fund order and a nearly 30 percent commission for the litigation funder despite previously raising “real concerns” about the small portion flowing to group members.
Whether a contingency fee order made in a Victoria Supreme Court class action can survive a transfer application to a NSW court could be the next high stakes class action issue for the courts.
In Wigmans v AMP the High Court will shortly deliver judgment on the vexed issue of class actions that compete to represent substantially the same class or group. Dr Michael Duffy of Monash University previews the decision.
Bondholders of Axsesstoday are seeking to expand their claims in a class action against the collapsed asset finance lender and its accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers, alleging PwC kept investors in the dark about a spike in the company’s arrears ratio prior to issuing a $50 million bond prospectus.
A group of women harmed by pelvic mesh devices produced by Johnson & Johnson have accused it of persisting with a “wreckage” of a case in which one of its own doctors admitted the pharmaceutical company knew of the risks posed by the implants at they time they were sold worldwide.
Two NAB units have indicated they will seek to dismiss a lawsuit over alleged MySuper mismanagement which the court recently ruled was not validly commenced as a class action if the lead applicant fails in his bid to replead.
The Morrison government faces a fifth class action alleging the use of toxic firefighting foam at a Defence Force base on the South Coast of New South Wales contaminated Indigenous land.
An upcoming class action trial over alleged side effects resulting from the Hendra virus horse vaccine, which will commence shortly after a COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out in Australia, will raise “timely” issues concerning vaccine safety, a judge has heard.
The funder behind a class action against McMillan Shakespeare has warned against the court beating it up like a ‘pinata’ in a settlement approval hearing in which the judge expressed “real concerns” about the portion of a $9.5 million settlement earmarked for group members.