CityLink operator CML, which was found to have overcharged Eastlink operator ConnectEast, has argued that it also overpaid and is entitled to damages, but ConnectEast has told a judge the claim is time-barred and doesn’t fall within a cross-claim exception.
The funder that backed a failed shareholder class action against an ex-Quintis director and EY is fighting a bid for a third-party costs order, arguing such orders shouldn’t be imposed on funders where there is no doubt they will pay up.
A judge has approved a $3.5 million settlement in a class action brought by former clients of Sydney fraudster Melissa Caddick.
As the High Court hears oral arguments this week on the reach of power to make common fund orders for firms and funders bringing class actions, Lawyerly gives a cheat sheet on what the justices could do.
A judge is concerned that if he approves all payouts sought by lawyers and funders from a $13.5 million settlement in a class action against a Quintis director, group members will only he left with just 18 per cent.
The High Court has agreed to rule on whether common fund orders can ever be made in class actions, including so-called solicitors’ common fund orders allowing lawyers to earn a cut of any settlement.
If it takes up the Federal Court’s ruling in favour of solicitors seeking to earn a cut from a class action, the High Court will be asked to overrule its 2019 decision against common fund orders.
The High Court has been asked to overturn a Full Court decision finding lawyers can take a cut from a class action settlement under a solicitors’ common fund order and to finally settle the question of whether the court has the power to issue common fund orders at all.
Lawyers are allowed to take a cut from a class action settlement or judgment under a so-called solicitors’ common fund order, the Full Federal Court has ruled, saying they are a permissive use of the court’s power.
Hearing arguments Tuesday on whether lawyers should be permitted to earn contingency fees in Federal Court class actions, judges on a Full Court bench appeared to lean in favour of allowing so-called solicitors’ common fund orders, rejecting claims they are “unjust”.