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.
After four years of litigation, the Volkswagen diesel emissions class actions have reached an in-principle settlement of up to $127.1 million, with affected consumers expected to receive $1,400 per vehicle on average if 100 per cent participation is achieved.
Insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson is facing a second class action on behalf of local councils claiming it charged inflated premiums.
ASIC has abandoned its market manipulation case against National Australia Bank contractor Whitebox Trading, just over a month after the financial regulator decided to appeal the Federal Court’s primary decision to throw out their case.
The judge overseeing seven class actions against car makers over defective Takata airbags has shot down the applicants’ opposition to a soft class closure order in advance of mediation, saying the cases would not be a “mystery tour” from here on out.
Rival law firms Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald will be allowed to work together without consolidating their separate shareholder class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, after a judge ruled that the bank had overstated the potential for extra costs and delays.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is challenging the dismissal of its enforcement action against National Australia Bank contractor Whitebox Trading and sole director Johannes Boshoff, which accused them of market manipulation that resulted in a spike in the price of securities on the ASX-200 index in October 2012.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has asked a court to impose penalties of up to $36 million on an AMP subsidiary for failing to take reasonable steps to stop its representatives from churning life insurance policies.
The Federal Court has approved a $14.6 million class action settlement with private training company Ashley Services, auditors Deloitte and Grant Thornton, and Holmes Management Group, with IMF Bentham set to pocket around $4.8 million for funding the litigation.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has lost its market manipulation action against Whitebox Trading and its director Johannes Boshoff, with the court finding it was “practically impossible” that any of the trades at the centre of the case were made for an illegitimate purpose.