Personal injury

The lead plaintiff and several group members in a class action against the Australian Football League on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries have “very strong” opposition to adding individual clubs, a court has heard.

The Australian Football League has asked a court to stay an individual lawsuit brought by a “totally incapacitated” former Western Bulldogs player until a related class action on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries is decided.

A woman who secured a $650,000 settlement from Coles after allegedly slipping on water at a Penrith, NSW supermarket may see just over five per cent of the sum after fees by the two law firms that represented her, as well as deductions by Medicare and Centrelink, a judge has said.

A judge has held that there could be favourable costs consequences for Carnival if its rejected $15 million settlement offer in the Ruby Princess class action turns out to be more generous than the ultimate damages award, departing from a previous ruling that so-called Calderbank offers do not operate in group proceedings. 

Asylum seekers who were put in immigration detention in South Australia can transfer their cases to the Federal Court to run their claims as a class action accusing the federal government of negligence and unlawful detention.

Health law practitioners are grappling with “snowballing awards” in claims over psychiatric injuries, according to Sparke Helmore’s new health law partner. 

A judge has approved a $4.5 million settlement in a class action over a fire allegedly ignited by welding work in rural NSW, despite a handful of objections from group members. 

The judge overseeing a suite of cases brought by holidaymakers who were seriously injured in a fatal bus collision in Vanuatu has hit out at QBE for ignoring queries about an insurance policy, as the defendants in the case scramble pass the buck for the crash. 

The New South Wales government wants to strike out class action claims that police conducted illegal strip searches at music festivals in the state ‘as a matter of routine’ and that it should face exemplary damages.

The High Court has refused to throw out a personal injury case over 55-year-old child sexual abuse claims, despite the death of the alleged perpetrator and most relevant witnesses, saying a permanent stay is a “measure of last resort”.