A common fund order granting the litigation funder behind the stolen wages class action 20 per cent of a $190 million settlement remains in force after a High Court judgment that did away with such orders, a judge has found.
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.
Calling it the largest human rights case in Australia’s history, a judge has signed off on a $190 million settlement in a class action against the State of Queensland and approved the funder’s 20 per cent cut of the proceeds.
Arguing it shouldn’t be the victim of an “accident of timing”, the funder that bankrolled the landmark stolen wages class action is fighting to save a common fund order granting it 20 per cent of a $190 million settlement in the case, despite a recent High Court judgment shooting down the orders.
The Queensland Supreme Court has upheld the legality of litigation funding agreements in a landmark class action judgment that could have a ripple effect across other states in Australia.
WorleyParsons has abandoned its mid-trial application to shut down a shareholder class action, amid uncertainty about whether the engineering company would be required to surrender its right to call reply evidence if it continued with its submission that it has no case to answer.
Counsel for WorleyParsons has denied the engineering firm’s attempt to end a shareholder class action mid-trial would be the start of a “brave new world” of no-case bids in representative proceedings, saying this was a rare instance of a case with “no chance of success”.
Engineering firm WorleyParsons has told the Federal Court it will press forward with a no case application in an attempt to shut down a shareholder class action against it.
WorleyParsons may seek to shut down a shareholder class action against it due to an “insuperable obstacle” caused by last minute pleading amendments, the engineering firm told a court at the outset of a 21-day hearing.
Two Adero Law-led class actions against Hays Specialist Recruitment and Stellar Personnel have been put on hold amid a looming Full Court appeal by Workpac which is expected to clarify the definition of casual work in Australia.