A judge overseeing two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven that settled for $98 million has been urged to cut the payout to the law firm running the cases because it had a “troubling” practice of deferring its fees.
Settlement talks in three class actions on behalf of women injured by allegedly defective pelvic mesh products have progressed “substantially”, a court has heard.
No evidence was produced of a deferred fee arrangement between the law firm and funder backing franchise class actions against 7-Eleven, and the “unequivocal” denial by the solicitor running the cases should be accepted, a court has heard.
A marathon hearing of an application for court approval of a $98 million settlement in two 7-Eleven class actions has ended with a judge taking the rare step of signing off on the settlement amount while withholding approval of the legal costs and funding commission.
A judge has signed off on a $98 million settlement in two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven, but has yet to reach a decision on $19.6 million in legal costs and a $25 million funding commission, which a court-appointed contradictor has urged him to reject.
An additional 1,200 women who were implanted with defective pelvic mesh devices will be eligible for compensation after Johnson & Johnson unit Ethicon agreed that findings in an earlier class action which it unsuccessfully fought all the way to the High Court should apply to a follow-on class action.
A solicitor running two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven “retaliated” against a group member who objected to a $98 million settlement and issued a late $6.5 million legal bill to benefit a litigation funder, a court has heard.
A $98 million settlement reached in two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven is “appropriate” given the likelihood that the convenience store giant would have lost at trial, according to a contradictor who urged the court to reject a $25 million cut sought by the funder that backed the litigation.
Litigation funder Galactic should receive a $15 million commission for its work on two franchisee class actions against convenience store giant 7-Eleven, instead of the $25 million it has asked for, a court has heard.
The contradictor appointed to represent group members in an application for approval of a $98 million settlement of two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven has raised “grave concerns” about criticism by the senior partner of the law firm running the proceedings.