COVID-19

A law firm behind a class action against the state of Victoria over the COVID-19 hotel quarantine fiasco is seeking what would be the second highest contingency fee rate for running the case, saying the percentage was justified given the complexity of the novel claims.

A restaurant famous for its Peking roast duck has lost a dispute with Sydney’s World Square Shopping Centre over unpaid rent, with a judge dismissing an argument that compliance with its lease during COVID-19 would have radically altered the eatery.

A judge considering bids to de-class COVID-19 business interruption class actions has said group members can sign up for the representative proceedings but later decide to make claims directly with their insurers.

In its bid for a 30 per cent group costs order, the applicant in a class action against Insurance Australia Group says the percentage shouldn’t be compared to lower proposed rates — as low as 14 per cent — in a battle to run a class action against Star.

Two class actions against Victorian aged care providers on behalf of families of residents who died due to alleged failures during the COVID-19 pandemic have appealed a ruling that rejected their bid for insurance and financial information to assist in mediation.

A judge who previously described as a “schemozzle” a law firm’s attempt to drop a class action over Telstra’s COVID-19 vaccine policy has refused a bid to keep secret Clive Palmer’s involvement as funder of the aborted litigation.

The state of Victoria is making a bid to suppress its defence in a class action brought over the 2020 hotel quarantine fiasco, as it faces a “substantially altered” indictment in a related criminal proceeding.

A shareholder class action has been filed against medical glove manufacturer Ansell Limited following an earnings guidance downgrade blamed on COVID-19.

A federal court judge has slammed Australia’s use of makeshift hotel detention centres as lacking “ordinary human decency”, but ruled they are not illegal in the case of a Kurdish refugee who was held for 14 months in two Melbourne hotels. 

A judge overseeing a shareholder class action against Insurance Australia Group says more evidence is needed to back the applicant’s bid for an order giving lawyers 30 per cent of any recoveries.