The law firm that ran a class action over the 2009 Montara oil spill must compete to administer a $192.5 million settlement, with a judge saying a tendering process is consistent with the court’s “protective and supervisory role” in managing costs deducted from class action settlements.
A judge has largely approved the funder’s commission and legal fees to be deducted from a $192.5 million settlement of a class action against oil company PTTEP, despite the costs halving the amount to go to group members.
Sixteen law firms and accounting firms have thrown their hat in the ring to administer a $300 million settlement in two class actions against Johnson & Johnson over pelvic mesh devices that injured thousands of women.
The law firm running the Montara oil spill class action, which has settled for $192.5 million, is looking for a new lead applicant after the first one defected over concerns group members would lose half the settlement amount to legal costs and a funding commission.
A litigation funder has abandoned its case seeking to prevent counsel retained by the lead applicant in the settled Montara oil spill class action from providing independent legal advice.
The funder bankrolling the settled class action against oil exploration company PTTEP wants a court-ordered injunction against a barrister to prevent him from giving independent legal advice to the lead applicant about his claim.
In one of the year’s biggest class action settlements, PTTEP Australasia has agreed to pay $192.5 million to settle a representative action over a 2009 oil spill that affected 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers.
PTTEP Australia’s appeal of a class action finding that it breached a duty of care to thousands of farmers impacted by the 2009 Montara oil spill has been put on hold amid a fight between the funder and lawyers that is cloaked in confidentiality.
This week’s judgment referring the conduct of lawyers behind the Banksia class action to prosecutors shows the effectiveness of unique legislative provisions in Victoria that should serve as a blueprint for federal reform, says barrister and University of New South Wales adjunct professor Dr Peter Cashman.
Class action reforms proposed last week by the Morrison government would lead to the “rapid abandonment” of open class actions by law firms and litigation funders, two leading barristers have argued.