In a major win for two class actions and Fortnite maker Epic Games, a judge has found that Apple and Google misused their market power in running app stores and in-app purchase systems.
A judge has found that there is no need to revise the 27.5 per cent group costs order secured by Slater and Gordon following the consolidation of two class actions against Insurance Australia, despite the likelihood of a larger payout to the firm.
Insurance Australia Limited and Insurance Manufacturers of Australia have denied a class action’s claims that they misled insurance customers about loyalty discounts by calculating their premiums using an algorithm designed to maximise renewals.
Class action settlements leaped in value last year, with three settlements topping the $200 million mark.
The judge overseeing class actions against Uber has approved a $271.8 million settlement, which includes an $82 million deduction for the funder and $39 million for the firm that ran the cases.
A “time poor” judge’s extensive copying and pasting of submissions and an offensive tweet by senator Pauline Hanson were at the centre of the week’s biggest litigation wins.
A judge has ordered Victoria’s Peninsula Health to fork over $316,260 in penalties for failing to pay overtime to a junior doctor leading a class action, saying the hospital operator had a “highly irresponsible attitude”.
Almost 7,000 taxi drivers who did not sign up to two class actions against Uber by the deadline are asking the court for a cut of a $272 million settlement, with a judge questioning what she “unleashed” when sending out the notice of settlement.
Class action settlement approval hearings are not a time for the court to second guess a law firm’s contingency fee as set down in a group costs order, a judge has found, but the question of proportionality is still key, and evidence of a firm’s return on investment and hourly fees may be relevant to the final decision.
A judge has signed off on the first-ever settlement allowing a law firm to earn a contingency fee, approving a $12.8 million cut for Slater & Gordon in a shareholder class action against G8 Education.