Class Actions

Slater & Gordon has won the court’s nod to be separately represented at an upcoming settlement approval hearing where it will seek a $12.8 million group costs order for running a shareholder class action against G8 Education.

The law firm behind a class action over cancelled Qantas flights has confirmed the case continues despite a $120 million settlement with the consumer regulator, and has called on the airline to follow through on its pledge to restore customers’ confidence.

Group members enjoy broader protection against the running of limitation periods than lead plaintiffs in class actions, an appeals court has said in finding that commercial fishing operators heading a class action against Gladstone Ports could not bring new claims out of time. 

Appellate guidance is needed on whether a history of cooperation between law firms that brought competing class actions can be the deciding factor in a close carriage contest, the Victorian Court of Appeal has heard.

In a highly unusual move, the applicant in an employment class action against hospitality giant Merivale has reneged on an $18 million settlement, saying a jump in group member registration since the deal was struck means the sum would no longer win court approval.

The funder of a class action by financial advisers against AMP is seeking a $28.5 million profit from a $100 million settlement, a hefty payout that has prompted the appointment of a contradictor but may survive the scrutiny in light of a recent appeals court decision.

A class action against failed asset finance lender Axsesstoday and auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers has reached an in-principle settlement with the lender’s insurers.

A judge has granted the Victorian government’s bid to dismiss a class action over its decision to retire Melbourne’s high-rise public housing towers, but allowed the applicant to recast his claim, despite protests from the state. 

A judge has questioned the “independent skill and judgment” applied to the pleading in a third class action filed against International Capital Markets over risky derivative products, amid a “hot contest as to carriage and forum”.

A judge hearing a class action against the New South Wales government and police commissioner over allegedly illegal strip searches at music festivals has criticised the state for failing to comply with court orders on time.