Lawyer Alex Elliott was complicit in a plan by his late father to mislead the court and group members in the Banksia class action, to conceal conflicts of interest and to profit from the case at the expense of debenture holders, a judge has been told.
Insurance Australia Group will fork over $138 million to settle a class action brought against two subsidiaries alleging they engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by pushing worthless insurance on motor vehicle purchasers.
Queensland police are searching for Federal Circuit Court judge Guy Andrew, who was recently removed from the Townsville registry, after he went missing in Brisbane bushland on Sunday.
McMillan Shakespeare has settled a class action alleging one of its units engaged in unfair tactics and unconscionable conduct in the sale of car warranties that offered “no benefit or value” to consumers.
An appeals court has declined to dismiss an international law firm’s appeal of a ruling staying its case against a former director who formed a breakaway law firm with a former Freehills partner and Westpac in-house counsel and lured away lucrative oil and gas clients.
The Murray Goulburn class action run by Elliott Legal bears similarities to the Banksia class action, a case rife with scandal and offered up by opponents as proof of the problems with the class action regime. The leading lawyers were the same in both cases. In one they have abandoned any claim to their fees and have walked away from their careers. In the other they walked away with $5 million.
US drug company Merck Sharp & Dohme has settled trade mark litigation brought by German drug maker Merck KGaA alleging it violated a 1970 agreement by using the “Merck” mark in Australia.
A judge has ordered Australia and New Zealand Banking Group to pay $10 million in penalties after finding that the bank engaged in unconscionable conduct and breached its obligations by slugging customers $3 million in periodic payment fees it was not entitled to charge.
Viagogo has been ordered to pay a $7 million penalty for misleading customers into thinking the ticket reseller was an official vendor and failing to disclose booking fees of around 28 per cent.
An appeals court has dismissed a second bid by lawyer Alex Elliott to have the judge overseeing the Banksia class action disqualified from hearing claims that he, like his late father, was party to an alleged fraudulent scheme in running the litigation.