Not to be outdone by other class action firms vying to recruit AMP shareholders for a $2 billion class action, Slater & Gordon announced Friday it would offer investors “the most competitive funding package of all”.
Boutique law firm Phi Finney McDonald is investigating a potential shareholder class action against BHP Billiton over the fatal Samarco disaster in Brazil, which saw the market value of the mining giant plummet by $25 billion.
Beleaguered financial institution AMP is facing yet another shareholder class action with Shine Lawyers joining three other law firms in what is shaping up to be a beauty pageant of class actions.
The financing arrangement underwriting Quinn Emanuel’s shareholder class action against AMP, which will earn its partner Burford Capital a record low 10 percent of any recovery, sets a new standard in class action litigation funding, and is expected to spark greater price competition in the industry.
A bidding war erupted Tuesday among law firms angling to lead a $2 billion shareholder class action against AMP, with Maurice Blackburn announcing a “super deal” and Quinn Emanuel besting that with a funding arrangement to “shake up” the market.
The judge overseeing a Maurice Blackburn-led shareholder class action against Commonwealth Bank of Australia over allegedly lax anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing controls has struck out a portion of the statement of claim for “pleading deficiencies”.
7-Eleven has lost its bid to use a confidential bulletin sent to class members via WhatsApp as defence evidence in an ongoing franchisee class action, with a judge rejecting the company’s claims the document was no longer shielded by legal professional privilege.
A two-day hearing has been scheduled in the Westpac life insurance class action over a proposed funding arrangement that would give litigation backer JustKapital 30 per cent of any recovery, in addition to costs outlaid by lawyers for the class.
AMP says it will “vigorously defend” two class actions by shareholders in the wake of scandalous revelations at the Royal Commission that led to a $2 billion market cap drop.
A “secret” side agreement between the lead applicant in a shareholder class action and a litigation funder is at the centre of a dispute in the Federal Court that is delaying distribution of a $19 million settlement in the case.