Class Actions

With bated breath class action litigators and funders have waited for this day, when the Full Federal Court decides the question of power to make common fund orders at settlement. They aren’t the final arbiters, but the judges’ ruling may be no less important for that.

Despite an influx of data breach class actions and a large number of competing proceedings, the past financial year has seen the lowest number of new class actions filed in six years, according to a new report.

A judge has approved the settlement of a class action brought on behalf of sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate change risks, despite a late scrap with the government over whether the deal puts a stop to future cases.

An Australian law firm is investigating a class action against drug manufacturers over a commonly prescribed antibiotic said to cause “disabling” side effects, including nerve damage and psychosis.

NAB unit NULIS Nominees was not only allowed to charge superannuation fund members fees for adviser commissions, it was “obliged” to do so, a court has heard during a class action trial over alleged conflicted remuneration. 

A class action against a director of defunct financial services firm Hodgson Faraday is headed to the High Court after seven years of litigation, with the director appealing findings that he was involved in misleading South Korean investors.

NAB unit NULIS Nominees was “hopelessly conflicted” in continuing to charge allegedly unlawful adviser commissions to superannuation fund members, a court has heard on the first day of a class action trial.

Westpac has been hit with a class action for allegedly overcharging superannuation customers for insurance coverage, months after paying $30 million to settle a separate superannuation class action.

A bondholder class action against Virgin is heating up, with the airline filing a cross-claim seeking the court’s approval to demand periodic payments from the applicant to cover its costs under a contentious indemnity clause.

A class action against the AFL on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries will expand its group definition to include family members and dependents, while a competing case by the widow of Shane Tuck has been dropped.