A judge that granted carriage of a Google ad tech class action to Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald has reiterated concerns that such cooperative arrangements between firms could breach competition law.
A judge has spiked Piper Alderman’s class action alleging Google abuses its dominance in digital advertising, favouring a competing case run jointly by two other firms, despite suggesting such arrangements hinted at lawyers “passing the prize around”.
A class action against Sony alleging it used restrictive trade practices to block competition with its Playstation store will likely need to make “substantial” changes to its case, a court has heard.
A judge has awarded carriage of class actions against Hyundai and Kia to Maurice Blackburn after declining to allow a sixth offer by competing firm Banton Group, saying re-bids outside the orderly process of carriage fights must be “carefully assessed”.
GM can’t strike out a class action over alleged faulty transmissions in Holden cars, with a judge saying the case doesn’t need to identify the “precise mechanical, metallurgical or engineering explanation” for alleged defects.
A law firm fighting for carriage of class actions against Hyundai and Kia has argued competing proceedings with a lower funding rate should not have a leg up, saying the rival firm’s budget was a “fantasy”.
General Motors has moved to strike-out a class action over allegedly faulty transmission systems in Holden cars, arguing the plaintiff needs to plead the alleged design flaw with specificity, not just by reference to symptoms.
The judge overseeing two competing class actions against Google has issued a warning to law firms that agree to team up and work on a class action together, saying that in other markets such arrangements might be viewed as “something akin to a cartel”.
The judge hearing the ACCC’s price-fixing case against Downer EDI’s Spotless and Ventia has proposed an initial hearing to determine if the companies are in competition, saying he won’t let the case become “totally unwieldy”.
In the ACCC’s price-fixing case, infrastructure services company Ventia has joined with Spotless in arguing the companies were not in competition, and says it was the Department of Defence that arranged for the providers to talk.