As the High Court hears oral arguments this week on the reach of power to make common fund orders for firms and funders bringing class actions, Lawyerly gives a cheat sheet on what the justices could do.
Two High Court cases weighing key issues for class action practitioners will likely push the trial in a shareholder proceeding against the collapsed Blue Sky Alternative Investments and auditor EY to early 2026.
The High Court has agreed to rule on whether common fund orders can ever be made in class actions, including so-called solicitors’ common fund orders allowing lawyers to earn a cut of any settlement.
If it takes up the Federal Court’s ruling in favour of solicitors seeking to earn a cut from a class action, the High Court will be asked to overrule its 2019 decision against common fund orders.
Three former Blue Sky directors who were originally named in a shareholder class action against the collapsed fund manager might be “dragged back” into the case after its chief operating officer pointed the finger at him in his defence, a court has heard.
A property developer has been ordered to pay $11.2 million to the liquidators of Plutus Payroll after a judge found he helped an employee of the defunct payroll services company “wash” money he blackmailed from the company’s directors.
The High Court has been asked to overturn a Full Court decision finding lawyers can take a cut from a class action settlement under a solicitors’ common fund order and to finally settle the question of whether the court has the power to issue common fund orders at all.
Lawyers are allowed to take a cut from a class action settlement or judgment under a so-called solicitors’ common fund order, the Full Federal Court has ruled, saying they are a permissive use of the court’s power.
Hearing arguments Tuesday on whether lawyers should be permitted to earn contingency fees in Federal Court class actions, judges on a Full Court bench appeared to lean in favour of allowing so-called solicitors’ common fund orders, rejecting claims they are “unjust”.
Defunct investment firm Blue Sky has denied a class action’s claims that it misled shareholders ahead of its 2019 collapse and has pointed the finger at auditor EY.