Companies and other defendants forked over big sums last year to settle more than 20 class actions, with a total of at least $734 million being paid out. Here are the top 10 class action settlements and the law firms and funders that negotiated them.
The judge overseeing the settlement approval process in multiple class actions against Volkswagen over the diesel emissions scandal has criticised an application for a common fund order by the funder backing two Bannister Law-led lawsuits.
Former Wallabies fullback Israel Folau has settled his lawsuit against Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby alleging his $5.7 million contract was unfairly terminated over homophobic social media posts.
Former Wallabies player Israel Folau, who was sacked over homophobic social media posts, has increased the damages he is seeking in his unfair dismissal case against Rugby Australia, calling for $14 million in compensation as “Australia’s best player”.
The litigation funder that backed a now dismissed class action against aviation service provider Airservices has argued funders should not face costs orders in Fair Work class actions, with a judge saying the debate raised “a point of high principle”.
A subpoena issued by the daughter of mining magnate Gina Rinehart seeking documents from Corrs Chambers Westgarth, the law firm representing her mother’s company, has been set aside by a judge, who found the material had no forensic purpose in the family’s long-running fight over a $5 billion trust.
A challenge by Quinn Emanuel to a NSW Supreme Court decision staying its shareholder class action against AMP has been unanimously dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which found the class action beauty contest was not decided in error and that subsequently filed representative proceedings were not an abuse of process.
Volkswagen is nearing the end of the road in the dieselgate scandal in Australia, as the car company agrees to an in-principle resoltion of enforcement action by the ACCC while also finalising the details of the settlement of five class actions worth up to $127 million.
The judge overseeing multiple class actions against Volkswagen over its dieselgate emissions scandal has said he will “need persuading” before reallocating the settlement approval to a different judge, because “that’s something that happens in Victoria”.
Boutique class action firm Bannister Law has been told “not to make too much noise” from its spot at “the back of the bus” in the VW dieselgate class actions, after its legal team flagged its intention to try and expedite the $127.1 million settlement approval process.