Securities

As the knives come out in a contest between four law firms battling to run an $80 million class action against Star Entertainment, a court-appointed barrister has named his favourites – one of which has proposed a contingency fee of just 14 per cent.

Three firms fighting for carriage of a $80 million class action against Star Entertainment say a group costs order would guard against ‘costs blowouts’ in the case and have urged a judge to ditch a no win, no fee proposal brought by fourth-to-file firm Shine Lawyers.

A landmark case brought by a shareholder advocacy group accusing Santos of greenwashing will seek to argue the energy company misled the market by presenting its carbon offset programs as plans to reduce emissions.

The applicant in a class action against Blue Sky Alternative Investments and auditor EY has raised an “often overlooked” principle to challenge the separate legal representation of two of the company’s directors, dodging applications for almost $15 million in security – for now.

A judge has declined to hear an interlocutory stoush about the scope of a shareholder class action against engineering company Worley before an upcoming trial, saying the case, which has been on foot since 2015 and was appealed to the High Court, needed “some finality”. 

A law firm is probing a shareholder class action against former ASX-listed Salt Lake Potash and auditor EY, alleging the company failed to disclose material information about its financial position before entering receivership in late 2021.

A judge has avoided a fight “with the High Court written all over it” over whether an investor class action against Blue Sky Alternative Investments and auditor EY can join four insurers to the case.

Multiple class actions against Downer EDI over accounting irregularities might be bound for the High Court as complex legal questions swirl, a judge said on Wednesday.

Trial in a protracted class action against Deloitte over the collapse of construction group Hastie has been abandoned, signalling a settlement is in the works.

A lawsuit by the liquidators of Sargon Capital alleges law firm King & Wood Mallesons “refused or neglected” a demand to return over $540,000 in alleged unfair preference payments and should have known the fintech was insolvent when the payments were made.