Declan Murphy

A class action has accused not for profit community legal service Knowmore Legal of breaching its duty of care and providing negligent advice to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse who settled their claims under the National Redress Scheme when they could have recovered more by taking their claims to court.

Sydney-based plastic surgeon Daniel Lanzer and several of his associates have objected to a class action’s eighth attempt at getting its claims over allegedly negligent cosmetic procedures right, saying the plaintiffs were engaged in a “continuing cycle of propagating versions” of their case.

Appellate guidance is needed on whether a history of cooperation between law firms that brought competing class actions can be the deciding factor in a close carriage contest, the Victorian Court of Appeal has heard.

A judge has railed against the parties in a class action against Sydney-based plastic surgeon Daniel Lanzer and four of his associates for “repeated failure to comply with court orders” in the two-year-old case.

A union has partially won a bid to exclude thousands of current and former members from a class action against McDonald’s, after losing a challenge that sought to ban all Fair Work group proceedings.

The Full Federal Court has answered a question vexing the court for the past four years, ruling that class action judges have the power to make common fund orders at settlement that allow litigation funders to reap a percentage commission beyond their contractual entitlement. 

The Full Federal Court’s finding that the High Court did not extinguish the power of judges to make common fund orders on approval of class action settlements is the latest milestone in the evolution of Australian class action jurisprudence, experts say.

A judge has declined a union’s bid to throw out an employee class action against McDonald’s after the Full Federal Court confirmed that employee class actions are not precluded by the Fair Work Act. 

With bated breath class action litigators and funders have waited for this day, when the Full Federal Court decides the question of power to make common fund orders at settlement. They aren’t the final arbiters, but the judges’ ruling may be no less important for that.

Two law firms that were able to “work cooperatively” to join their cases have been awarded carriage of a shareholder class action against mining firm Downer EDI. The judge overseeing the proceedings also approved a group costs order application that proposed a “reasonable rate” of return to the firms.