A judge has approved a confidential settlement in a class action against KPMG and nine former Gunns Plantations directors over the failure of six managed investment schemes for eucalyptus wood in Tasmania.
A busy judge has pushed the parties in a class action against agrochemical giant Monsanto to split the trial to focus first on the question of whether the company’s Roundup weed killer causes cancer so that he can avoid writing a judgment of “hundreds and hundreds” of pages.
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.
A judge has indicated his willingness to approve a $25 million settlement in a class action against dairy co-op Fonterra, but deferred the question of the funder’s cut until after the Full Court rules on whether the court has the power to make a common fund order at settlement.
Advanta Seeds has won an appeal upholding the dismissal of a class action by sorghum farmers over allegedly contaminated seeds, with a court finding that the seed producer’s duty of care was negated by clear disclaimers.
A judge has approved a $192.5 million settlement in an oil spill class action on behalf of Indonesian seaweed farmers, but the slice for the law firm running the action and its litigation funder remains to be determined amid allegations of negligence by the former lead applicant in the case.
Agricultural giant Nufarm has lost its appeal of a decision giving rival Advanta Seeds extra time to pay a renewal fee for its patent for a hybrid plant cell, after an error by its lawyers caused the renewal to fall through the cracks.
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.
Group members in a class action against Fonterra are set to reap about $13 million from a $25 million settlement reached with the dairy company, following deductions including the costs of the litigation funder’s after-the-event insurance.
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.