A ruling this week that kept intact a contingency fee rate of 27.5 per cent sought by Slater & Gordon to run a shareholder class action against G8 Education might encourage law firms to seek higher percentage payouts at the outset of group proceedings in Victoria.
Class action settlement approval hearings are not a time for the court to second guess a law firm’s contingency fee as set down in a group costs order, a judge has found, but the question of proportionality is still key, and evidence of a firm’s return on investment and hourly fees may be relevant to the final decision.
A judge has signed off on the first-ever settlement allowing a law firm to earn a contingency fee, approving a $12.8 million cut for Slater & Gordon in a shareholder class action against G8 Education.
A judge has granted broad discovery to a shareholder class action against IAG over COVID-related disclosures, saying the documents sought were relevant to determining the likelihood the insurer knew of the risk that it would have to pay out business interruption claims covered by polices that referenced defunct legislation.
A judge has made soft class closure orders in a shareholder class action against Medibank after the High Court has been asked to resolve a split on the issue by intermediate appellate courts.
A judge has allowed a law firm running a shareholder class action against medical glove maker Ansell to earn a 40 per cent contingency fee, but slashed the rate for settlements or judgments over $50 million.
Trial in a five-year-old class action against Whitehaven Coal will proceed without further delay despite the plaintiff’s late bid to tender an expert report, with a judge finding no extraordinary reason to push off the hearing date any longer.
The liquidator of failed global financial services firm Babcock & Brown is seeking to permanently stay a shareholder suit it says is an abuse of process, nearly five years after three other cases against the liquidator were thrown out.
Buoyed by the recent trial success of CBA and other companies facing shareholder ire, building materials giant Boral is taking its chances at a hearing in a class action alleging disclosure breaches linked to its US windows business.
A judge has signed off on an agreed-to $5 million penalty against Noumi in ASIC proceedings for violating its continuous disclosure obligations and found the food company’s non-disclosures caused it shares to trade at an inflated price.