Two rulings Friday keeping alive the common fund order are a ringing endorsement by the courts of the important role that litigation funders play in class actions, experts say, and have paved the way for more funded post-Hayne consumer litigation against banks and other financial services firms this year.
Common fund orders in class actions are legal and not unconstitutional, six judges found Friday after a history-making joint sitting of two appeals courts.
GetSwift has warned it may seek an injunction blocking Johnson Winter & Slattery from acting as instructing lawyers to the corporate cop in its enforcement action against the logistics company, saying the firm provided advisory work for it last year.
Maurice Blackburn has lost a long-running fight with the Australian Taxation Office over a tax bill on two massive class action settlements secured by the firm for thousands of Black Saturday bushfire victims.
A litigation funder wants the High Court to review a court decision’s to approve a $64 million settlement in litigation over the failure of Banksia Securities while rejecting the funder’s commission and legal fees.
A state judge has ordered the litigation funders behind a group of federal class actions against AMP to pay the legal costs of their failed transfer applications, saying while he could not make the applicants pay, he could compel the funders to cough up the money.
The lead plaintiff in a class action alleging National Australia Bank pushed worthless credit card insurance onto its customers is disputing the bank’s claims that it had no power to negotiate the terms of the policies.
Judgments in two appeals challenging the legality of common fund orders issued by courts in class actions will be handed down this week, and the rulings could have a profound effect on how class actions are run by lawyers and their funders in the future.
A judge has rejected a bid by Bellamy’s to limit the recoverable costs of rival law firms running joint class actions against the baby food maker, saying he would deal with any unjustified duplication later, not now.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia wants a judge to ensure it doesn’t get hit with double the cost for work defending two shareholder class actions brought by rival plaintiffs law firms.