Proposed new regulations would give the ACCC a boost in targeting anti-competitive conduct by digital platforms, but a âbig gapâ remains in its powers, an expert told Lawyerly.
A time-strapped judge’s decision that was set aside for “uncritical copying and pasting” exposes deeper issues about stressed judges at under-resourced courts with “extraordinary workloads”, experts say.
Landmark High Court decisions in class actions against Toyota and Ford on how damages should be calculated for defective vehicles will spark more consumer class actions, a plaintiff lawyer told Lawyerly.
A ruling that clarified the materiality requirement in continuous disclosure cases could lead to more regulatory actions and activist shareholder claims, but won’t boost shareholder class actions, experts say.
While the latest round of Respect@Work reforms will likely increase litigation by shielding employees from costs in unsuccessful discrimination cases, this may not spell bad news for employers.
Expect more cybersecurity class actions following the introduction of a new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, experts on both sides of the bar table told Lawyerly.
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.
Although carefully reasoned, last week’s landmark judgment by the Full Federal Court finding power to grant contingency fees to class action solicitors has placed the question of statutory authority to award settlement common fund orders on more unsteady ground than before, experts say.
The Federal Court is set to become a more attractive forum for class actions now that the Full Court has confirmed it has power to make orders granting solicitors a contingency fee from any settlement or judgment in a group proceeding.
Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has yet to engage lawyers to pursue his appeal of a judgeâs finding that he raped colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, but while he has the right to represent himself, experts have told Lawyerly it would be “very unwise” for him to run the case on his own.