Class Actions

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. 

The lead plaintiff in a four-year-old class action against Zurich Insurance over a defective New Zealand apartment block has said the case “has to get moving”, telling the court that property owners have not received payment since a $50 million judgment was awarded overseas in 2017.

A recently appointed High Court judge has warned against state and federal courts competing to attract cases, expressing concerns the appearance of impartiality could be compromised if courts sought to “drum up business at the expense of defendants”. 

A judge on the Supreme Court of Victoria says he is a ‘convert’ on group costs orders, which allow law firms running class action to earn a cut of any settlement or judgment, saying GCOs will give better returns to group members and that conflicts can be managed.

The Full Federal Court has found the court’s recently-affirmed power to make common fund orders at settlement means the litigation funder that backed two class actions against 7-Eleven is entitled to a $24.5 million cut from a $98 million settlement, in a decision that slammed the parties for a settlement approval process that “went off the rails”, costing group members $2.5 million.