Although carefully reasoned, last week’s landmark judgment by the Full Federal Court finding power to grant contingency fees to class action solicitors has placed the question of statutory authority to award settlement common fund orders on more unsteady ground than before, experts say.
The plaintiffs in two competing class actions against Mercedes-Benz over alleged defeat devices designed to cheat regulatory emissions tests have agreed to temporarily stay the first-filed proceeding so that one filed over a year later can go ahead, a court has heard.Ā
A judge has set aside subpoenas in a class action against Mercedes-Benz over alleged emissions cheating seeking material to identify group members and clarify the composition of the class, finding they were not issued for a legitimate forensic purpose.
A law firm that lost a contest to run a class action against Toyota unit Hino has appealed a decision to give the case to a larger rival based on past experience, saying the ruling would act as a deterrent to smaller firms wanting to enter the market for group proceedings.
A judge has awarded carriage of a class action against Toyota unit Hino to Maurice Blackburn, finding that the law firmās experience and resources trumped those of small personal injury firm Gerard Malouf & Partners, despite its alliance with a large US firm.Ā
A judge has told the law firm that has taken over a class action against Philips Electronics over recalled sleep apnea machines to take its time when amending the pleading, which he said was not the “finest piece of work” he’d ever seen.
Personal injury law firm Gerard Malouf & Partners has hit back at Maurice Blackburnās challenge to its class action experience in a fight for carriage of a class action against a Toyota unit, saying the top US firm it has partnered with to run the case trumped the major Australian plaintiff firm “on every conceivable dimensionā.
A class action against Philips Electronics over recalled sleep apnea machines is likely to proceed with a new lead applicant and law firm after the solicitor on record decided the case was not viable.Ā
The runner-up in a contest to administer Johnson & Johnson’s $300 million settlement of two pelvic mesh class actions has lost a challenge to a decision awarding the prize to the team of Slater & Gordon, BDO and the firm of former Shine Lawyers solicitor Jan Saddler.
Class actions throw up all manner of ethical conundrums, but a recent Federal Court decision has shined a light on the question of whether funders and law firms should take out loans to run class actions and whether they can charge the costs to group members.