A judge has rejected a class closure order application by the lead applicants in a class action against convenience store chain On The Run ahead of mediation, finding that the court does not have power to make such an order at a “relatively early” stage in a class action.
A judge has ordered ASIC to enter mediation before heading into a “very expensive” trial with an IOOF subsidiary accused of giving shonky advice, over objections from the regulator that mediation would be “completely futile”.
IOOF subsidiary Australian Executor Trustees failed to drag law firm Sparke Helmore into a case after it was hit with a $76.6 million judgment over breaches of duty in the sale of a 42,000 hectare timber plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group.
A judge has approved a $9.5 million settlement in a class action against McMillan Shakespeare as fair and reasonable, allowing a common fund order and a nearly 30 percent commission for the litigation funder despite previously raising “real concerns” about the small portion flowing to group members.
Whether a contingency fee order made in a Victoria Supreme Court class action can survive a transfer application to a NSW court could be the next high stakes class action issue for the courts.
A Victorian barrister has reached a settlement on the eve of trial in a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit brought by a former client who lost a court case over a $24.5 million real estate dispute.
Venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead is seeking indemnity costs after being awarded $280,000 in her defamation case against Nine-owned Fairfax, which she accuses of rejecting several settlement offers with “bugger off letters” and engaging in a “petulant campaign” of media coverage post-judgment.
The wealthy founder of auto repair franchisor Ultra Tune has secured a temporary injunction against his ex-girlfriend and a former employee prohibiting them from distributing secret recordings after excerpts from one damaging audio file were published by Fairfax.
Law firm Piper Alderman has filed a lawsuit seeking payment of an alleged debt against a former senior partner who accused the firm of sex discrimination.
A group of women harmed by pelvic mesh devices produced by Johnson & Johnson have accused it of persisting with a “wreckage” of a case in which one of its own doctors admitted the pharmaceutical company knew of the risks posed by the implants at they time they were sold worldwide.