When the Supreme Court of Victoria considers for the first time a settlement reached in a class action run on a contingency fee basis, it will grapple with some novel questions, including whether to trim the 27.5 per cent group costs order granted to Slater & Gordon at the outset of the case, legal experts say.
A court has struck the name of an Adelaide solicitor from the roll for failing to pay six barristers and misappropriating trust funds, finding the misconduct was not excused by his financial difficulties.
Australia’s largest childcare centre operator G8 Education has agreed to pay $46.5 million to settle a shareholder class action alleging the company failed to keep investors in the loop about factors affecting its 2017 financial performance, and the firm that ran the case is set to make $13 million after securing the first group costs order in Victoria.
A solicitor who posted comments on his client’s Facebook page about an ongoing criminal proceeding has been reprimanded for improper use of social media.
A judge has set aside subpoenas in a class action against Mercedes-Benz over alleged emissions cheating seeking material to identify group members and clarify the composition of the class, finding they were not issued for a legitimate forensic purpose.
McCullough Robertson has avoided a client’s bid for indemnity costs despite a judge’s finding the law firm waited an “inordinate” amount of time to withdraw a statutory demand for payment of a $237,000 legal bill.
On the eve of trial, rideshare giant Uber has agreed to pay $271.8 million to settle a five-year-old class action brought by taxi and hire car drivers in four states over the introduction of UberX.
Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto is facing the threat of two more defamation suits by organisers of last year’s anti-trans ‘Let Women Speak’ rally, which was crashed by neo-Nazis.
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.
The High Court has handed a win to a class action on behalf of Queensland ratepayers who were wrongly charged levies over a period of six years, rejecting the local council’s argument that the levies were put to good use.