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The High Court has set a date for handing down its keenly anticipated judgment in a case that challenged the winner of a beauty contest of class actions against AMP, a decision expected to offer guidance on how courts should tackle the so-called multiplicity problem.
Embattled financial services firm Greensill Capital has lost an emergency bid for a temporary mandatory injunction that would have forced its insurer to renew trade credit policies covering $4.6 billion in client loans as it fights to avoid collapse.
Concerns behind criticism that courts aren't equipped to assess a class action funder's commission are exaggerated, and the fixing by judges of reasonable remuneration, at least in other cases, is nothing new, a Federal Court judge has said.
Payouts in class actions in 2020 largely kept pace with the previous year despite the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and other defendants paying more than $696 million to settle class actions last year.
A judge has signalled his intention to sign off on a $138 million settlement in a class action against IAG and approve a common fund order that gives the litigation funder a $34.5 million commission, but an application by the funder for reimbursement of after-the-event insurance has been refused.
A Victoria Supreme Court judge hearing two competing class actions against Allianz Australia over "junk" insurance has asked the parties for feedback on what she should consider at a hearing on a request for a group costs order, which would allow the plaintiff lawyers to earn a cut of any settlement or judgment, the first such request made since Victoria legalised contingency fees.
That a first filed case should be the presumptive winner in a competition between class actions seemed a losing argument before the High Court on Tuesday as the justices weighed a challenge to a ruling picking one among a group of class actions against AMP, but the court also appeared skeptical of the power to hold wide ranging inquiries into the merits of competing cases.
The eyes of class action lawyers will be on the High Court Tuesday as it hears arguments over a judge's power to choose a single class action among competing proceedings and what, if anything, should be made of a case's funding structure and likely returns to group members when picking a winner.
An amicus curiae will be appointed by the court to argue against a common fund order application by the funder backing a class action against two Insurance Australia Group subsidiaries, after the insurance giant agreed to a $138 million settlement last month.
A court has given the green light for opt out and registration notices to be sent to group members in a shareholder class action against AMP, despite objections by the lead plaintiff in a competing class action.