Class Actions

A judge has given the green light to a $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, but reserved his decision about whether a contested amount of over $1 million should go to group members or the law firm that brought the case.

Personal injury law firm Gerard Malouf & Partners has hit back at Maurice Blackburn’s challenge to its class action experience in a fight for carriage of a class action against a Toyota unit, saying the top US firm it has partnered with to run the case trumped the major Australian plaintiff firm “on every conceivable dimension”.

A judge has reluctantly granted extensions in a class action over QSuper’s alleged failure to notify members of changes to its premiums, saying the delay in the two-year old case was “very disappointing”.

A law firm that brought class actions against Hyundai and Kia over alleged faulty anti-lock braking systems has been replaced ahead of a contest against Maurice Blackburn to run the cases. 

The High Court has agreed to weigh in on how damages for reduction in value should be calculated under the Australian Consumer Law, granted competing special leave applications in a class action against Toyota over defective diesel filters.

A leading plaintiff law firm will file a competing class action against KFC before the end of the year alleging the fast food giant denied workers rest breaks, after Gordon Legal filed a group proceeding late last month, a court has heard.

Optus is considering an appeal of a judgment allowing a class action to access a report from Deloitte into last year’s major data breach, saying its release could raise national security concerns.

A union has partially won a bid to exclude thousands of current and former members from a class action against McDonald’s, after losing a challenge that sought to ban all Fair Work group proceedings.

Crown Resorts is seeking $10 million in security for costs from the law firm running a shareholder class action accusing it of lax anti-money laundering compliance, arguing the sum is justified in light of the firm’s potential recovery under a tiered group costs order.

A judge overseeing a class action by the owners of lots in a townhouse development in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria has rejected an application for security for costs, noting the case has been brought by individuals who stand to lose their properties if they fail to pay costs.