A hearing in a class action to determine the extent of lost sales suffered by cattle exporters following a ban on live exports has been set down for April next year, making the case the oldest unresolved class action on the Federal Court docket.
A bid by the law firm behind a settled class action against Hays Recruitment to increase a cap on costs to settle a spat with a litigation funder has been dashed, with a judge pulling up the firm for failing to inform the court of the funder’s claim.
Aristocrat Leisure has hit back at a consumer class action filed over allegedly illegal ‘social casino’ apps, saying the class action will have to grapple with the fact that the games are played with ‘virtual currency’ that can’t be cashed in.
A funder that bankrolled a class action that was stayed against Dixon Advisory has argued it should receive $969,000 from a $16 million settlement reached in the competing proceedings that went ahead, saying its costs were spent to protect group members’ interests.
The litigation funder and lead plaintiffs in a class action against Queensland-owned Gladstone Ports are in dispute over who should be engaged to act in the long-running case after the solicitor on record left Clyde & Co for a rival law firm.
A judge has approved a settlement in a shareholder class action against livestock exporter Wellard that grants a 34 per cent cut for group members, saying that investors had agreed to the lawyers and funder receiving the “lion’s share”.
A law firm running a shareholder class action against building materials giant James Hardie Industries has argued for a 27.5 per cent group costs order, saying it was the “standard benchmark” for earnings guidance cases.
The state of Victoria has won its bid to prevent lawyers for a class action over Victoria’s COVID-19 hotel quarantine debacle from proofing lay witnesses, ahead of a criminal trial against the Department of Health, which is due to start in May.
When the Supreme Court of Victoria considers for the first time a settlement reached in a class action run on a contingency fee basis, it will grapple with some novel questions, including whether to trim the 27.5 per cent group costs order granted to Slater & Gordon at the outset of the case, legal experts say.
Epic Games’ case alleging Google ran its Play Store anti-competitively is “significantly more ambitious” than the Fortnite game maker’s claims against Apple, according to the search giant, which says its restraints are “more flexible and less draconian” than the iPhone maker’s.