A judge has rejected a law firm’s attempt to update its bid to run class actions against Hyundai and Kia, saying the changes were intended to net the firm a competitive advantage in an upcoming fight for carriage of the class actions and different in substance from its previous position.
A judge will not allow a law firm that stepped in to lead class actions against Hyundai and Kia to amend its funding proposal to seek a group costs order ahead of a carriage fight, even though its proposal would have led to greater returns for group members.
A judge who tossed a $650 million lawsuit by dealers against Mercedes-Benz has said he rejected a “value-laden” take by other judges on what amounts to unconscionable conduct, avoiding what he mockingly described as “putatively profound” propositions “dollied up in prettified prose”.
Mercedes-Benz dealers have appealed a judgment that found their $650 million lawsuit against the luxury car maker over its decision to move to a fixed-price agency model tried to “rewrite the contractual bargain” they had agreed to in order to better suit their commercial interests.
A judge has given the green light to a $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, but reserved his decision about whether a contested amount of over $1 million should go to group members or the law firm that brought the case.
A law firm that brought class actions against Hyundai and Kia over alleged faulty anti-lock braking systems has been replaced ahead of a contest against Maurice Blackburn to run the cases.
A judge asked to approve an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo is considering a proposal by court-appointed contradictors to set aside a percentage of the sum for group members, which would leave the law firm running the case $2 million out of pocket.
A judge who signed off on a settlement in a class action against the government by sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate risks said proving climate change posed a risk to government coffers may not be as difficult as the government has claimed.
The judge who rewarded the law firm with the lowest ever GCO proposal with carriage of an $80 million class action this week noted the competitive forces that shaped a “very good deal for group members,” but competition has its downsides, experts say.
The winning, 14 per cent contingency fee proposal by Slater & Gordon in a fight to run a class action against Star Entertainment was not driven by a desire to prevail in the contest and buy market share but was the product of a “reasoned decision” that took into account the law firm’s practice as a whole, a judge has found.