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After four years of litigation, the Volkswagen diesel emissions class actions have reached an in-principle settlement of up to $127.1 million, with affected consumers expected to receive $1,400 per vehicle on average if 100 per cent participation is achieved.
The High Court has cleared the way for victims of a rubbish tip fire that tore through 17,000 acres of farmland in the NSW Riverina to claim more than $20 million in damages in a class action, after rejecting an appeal bid by the local council.
A judge has thrown out the NRMA’s consumer case against the maritime union over its Sydney fast ferry campaign, ruling that a verdict in favour of the motoring body would have brought the “the entire field of industrial relations within the operation of consumer legislation”.
The competition regulator has given rural retailer company Elders the greenlight to proceed with its proposed $187 million acquisition of wholesale group Australian Independent Rural Retailers, but has warned it will be paying close attention to any future consolidation in the rural sector.
From October 1, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will apply an updated cartel immunity and cooperation policy, with the changes said to reflect the ACCC’s experiences from key criminal investigations undertaken to date. The ACCC is also launching an online portal to allow whistleblowers to anonymously report alleged cartel conduct directly to the ACCC. Here, King & Wood Mallesons partner Peta Stevenson and senior associate Jacqueline Ibrahim tells you what you need to know about these significant developments.
In a recent decision, Federal Court Justice Jonathan Beach approved the settlement of the securities class action against Sirtex Medical. The approval included the judge making a common fund order and allowing funder IMF Bentham's commission in the amount of $10 million, namely 25% of the gross settlement sum of $40 million. In approving the commission, Justice Beach noted that the rate should properly provide a reward for the risks undertaken by the funder, writes IMF Bentham's Gavin Beardsell and Kate Hurford.
Electronics giant LG has been ordered to pay a $160,000 penalty after its call centre workers misled two complaining customers about their rights to replace a faulty television or get a refund under the Australian Consumer Law.
A settlement has been reached in an intellectual property lawsuit brought by famed Melbourne pub The Corner Hotel against McDonald's alleging the fast food chain's experimental hipster cafe in Sydney violates its "Corner" trade marks.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned it could take enforcement action if its finds banks are misleading customers about foreign exchanges fees and warned banks' use of their compliance obligations to deny banking services to their non-bank competitors could constrain competition in the market for foreign exchange services.
A recent Federal Court decision means cooperation between courts in different international jurisdictions, which would once have been regarded as entirely novel, may now be a welcome option for liquidators to achieve a more efficient liquidation of insolvent corporate groups, writes K&L Gates' Jason Opperman, Katherine Smith and Catherine Crawford.