Three Sydney-based law firms have agreed to settle the class actions brought against them by Australian-Chinese investors seeking over $6 million in damages for allegedly negligent advice provided about investment properties developed by the now collapsed Ralan Group.
A judge has made a common fund order in approving a $3 million settlement in a class action against mortgage lending and investment company RMBL, the first common fund order granted since the High Court shot down these orders in the early stages of class actions.
A closely watched shareholder class action against Myer over an inflated profit forecast from former CEO Bernie Brookes has been dropped, after a court found the retail giant misled shareholders but that they suffered no harm.
Treasury Wine Estates is facing the threat of multiple shareholder class actions in the US over a January 2020 profit downgrade that is already at the centre of two class actions filed in Australia.
A decision this week rejecting a proposed common fund order at the settlement approval stage of a class action against teleco Vocus has dashed the hopes of litigation funders that a recent High Court ruling would not foreclose on judges using discretion at the end of a case and will cement a return to bookbuilding and a focus on shareholder class actions by institutional investors.
Betting giant Tabcorp may be hit with a class action after the company accidentally offered punters larger than usual cash out amounts for certain bets and then sought to reclaim the cash.
A prominent silk deliberately misled a cost consultant retained to provide an opinion on the barrister’s fees to a court overseeing a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities, then joked about it with lawyer and litigation funder Mark Elliott, a judge has been told.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission maintains its $75 million settlement agreement with Volkswagen over the emissions cheating scandal was “appropriate”, as VW progresses its appeal of the $125 million penalty imposed by a judge who called the ACCC agreement “manifestly inadequate”.
A judge has declined to make a common fund order in approving a $35 million settlement in a shareholder class action against telecommunications firm Vocus Group, resulting in a reduced payout for the funders that backed the case.
Airlines could be the first targets of an anticipated COVID-19 class action blitz, with a major law firm threatening litigation against Qantas, Jetstar and other travel providers for compensating customers on shuttered flights with vouchers instead of full refunds.