More than a decade after the High Court ruled that third parties could finance legal proceedings in Australia, the court has issued another game changing decision that puts limits on what judges will do to help a litigation funder out. Here, Lawyerly gives you a quick guide to the key takeaways from Wednesday’s judgment.
Judges have no power to order all class action members to pay a proportion of a litigation funder’s commission out of their share of a settlement, the High Court has ruled in a landmark judgment that deals a huge defeat to litigation funders.
A judge has rejected a proposal to jointly hear argument for approval of settlements in two class actions against milk supplier Murray Goulburn, saying the issues in one case — led by the legal team under scrutiny for alleged professional misconduct in a separate class action — could be more complicated.
The High Court is poised this week to issue its judgment in a case challenging the validity of common fund orders in class actions, a ruling that could see litigation funding commission rates creep back up after hitting record lows.
Arguing the court was wrong to rule that its trade mark was not inherently distinctive, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is challenging a judgment that revoked its 20-year-old mark for ‘Community Bank’.
Accounting giant Ernst & Young, which has been dragged into two class actions by Slater & Gordon shareholders, has shot back at claims it was negligent in its 2015 audit report of the law firm’s UK division, which included a review of the firm’s disastrous acquisition of Quindell’s professional services arm that found no impairment on the goodwill value of the deal.
Plaintiffs lawyers running class actions in Victoria will be free to charge contingency fees under new legislation introduced by the Labor government this week, a move that will see a boost in class actions brought in the state and has prompted calls for the Federal Government to follow suit.
The litigation funder financing the second of two recently settled shareholder class actions against Murray Goulburn will face similar scrutiny over its commission as the funder behind the first action.
Troubled retail technology firm Irexchange is accused of misleading shareholders through three different capital raising offers, according to a new Federal Court case brought by investors who sunk over $4.5 million into the company.
An investigation into donations made to activist group GetUp! by the Australian Workers’ Union more than a decade ago has been closed down by a judge, who has also ordered the return of documents seized in high-profile raids of the union’s offices.