A New Zealand appeals court has ruled that common fund orders can be made in class actions, even at the early stages, departing from the High Court of Australia in finding the commercial viability of a proceeding enhances access to justice.
A shareholder class action against BHP has sought more time to finalise its pleadings ahead of trial, after a judge threw out two class actions against the Commonwealth Bank that also alleged continuous disclosure breaches.
Previously noting the rate was “well outside the median range”, a judge has made an order granting the second highest contingency fee to a law firm running a shareholder class action against vehicle company FleetPartners Group, saying he was satisfied the group costs order was appropriate and necessary.
Counsel for Worley in a nine-year-old shareholder class action that is set for another Full Court appeal has foreshadowed a possible recusal application against the judges who heard the first appeal.
BHP wants to appeal a decision giving a class action the OK to fix what a judge accepted was an “inadvertent mistake” that resulted in a ruling — itself the subject of an appeal — which limited the group member definition.
A judge has ordered SkyCity to pay a $67 million penalty in AUSTRAC’s case alleging it allowed $4 billion in suspicious transactions, finding it was an “appropriate” sum, even when compared with the $450 million fine handed to Crown last July.
The judge overseeing a six-year-old class action against BHP over the collapse of a Brazilian dam has allowed the applicant to retroactively amend the group definition, accepting that a pleading mistake was contrary to the intended class membership in the case.
A class action has argued Medibank cannot claim legal professional privilege over three Deloitte reports after disclosing them to reassure the market and customers after a massive 2022 data breach.
A judge has ordered Crown Resorts to share the costs of soft class closure with the plaintiff in a shareholder class action accusing it of lax anti-money laundering compliance, saying that soft class closure ahead of mediation was in the interests of both parties.
The chair of the Medibank board has given evidence that he engaged King & Wood Mallesons to commission expert reviews in the wake of a cyberattack, including three reports by Deloitte, after hearing rumours of class action investigations in October 2022.