A judge has directed solicitors for deceased lawyer and funder Mark Elliott to search for his missing mobile phone, which is wanted for potential evidence by a court-appointed contradictor investigating alleged professional misconduct on the part of the legal team behind a settled class action against failed Banksia Securities.
A class action brought against 7-Eleven claims the convenience store chain ordered franchisees to purchase goods from supplier C-Store so that 7-Eleven could meet its obligation under a contract with the Metcash-owned supplier.
The entrepreneur who funded one of two settled Murray Goulburn class actions will defend his $10.5 million cut of the $37.5 million settlement, a commission that is under scrutiny by a contradictor appointed by the judge overseeing the case.
Crown Resorts has successfully challenged a ruling allowing law firm Maurice Blackburn to communicate with 18 formerly jailed employees to gather evidence in its shareholder class action against the casino giant.
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.
Litigation funder IMF Bentham has thrown in the towel in a battle over its cut of a $42 million settlement in a class action against dairy cooperative Murray Goulburn, accepting the Federal Court’s proposed 25 per cent commission rate after initially seeking 32 per cent.
A judge has shot down a bid by class action applicants to block 7-Eleven from seeking litigation releases from franchisees on contract renewal, saying there was no evidence the convenience store giant had acted unlawfully.
Two months after rejecting the deal because the litigation funder’s cut appeared excessive, a judge has approved a $42 million class action settlement with Murray Goulburn while the funder keeps up the fight over its commission.
A judge has rejected a proposal to jointly hear argument for approval of settlements in two class actions against milk supplier Murray Goulburn, saying the issues in one case — led by the legal team under scrutiny for alleged professional misconduct in a separate class action — could be more complicated.
Whether judges can alter the terms of litigation funding agreements in class actions is a question that will remain unsettled for now, after litigation funder IMF Bentham chose to sidestep a lengthy, costly and risky challenge to the reach of the court’s powers.