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Courts stepped up their scrutiny of class action settlements in 2022, with judges grappling with difficult issues such as funding commissions in employment cases and whether settlements, even those worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were fair to group members.
A $13 million commission sought by the funder that bankrolled the Opal Tower class action is stalling settlement approval, as debate continues over whether the funder can recoup the costs of after-the-event insurance from group members.
The special purpose receiver acting for debenture holders of defunct Banksia Securities was right to reject a confidential settlement -- believed to be for $10.6 million -- offered by the disgraced lawyers behind a scandal-ridden class action, a court has found.
Although the settlement sum has not been disclosed, court documents in the Opal Tower class action reveal the litigation funder backing the case will seek $13.2 million in commission when the parties appear before the court later this year.
The corporate regulator has reprimanded a liquidator for “serious” breaches of independence rules, and has directed the insolvency practitioner to refuse appointments until next year.
Australia’s oldest thoroughbred auctioneer William Inglis & Son waived legal professional privilege over advice from its solicitor Norton Rose Fulbright over contamination of land it bought in 2009, a judge has found.
A long-running class action over the Opal Tower disaster has settled, along with two related cases over the defective building, as a five-week trial was set to begin.
NewSat investor Rockgold Holdings has lost its bid to appoint a special purpose liquidator to run a lawsuit against eight major banks after a judge found its proposed 70 per cent funding fee “wholly disproportionate”.
The founder of troubled sports streaming start-up Sports Flick has filed a $12.7 million lawsuit against former investors seeking to be reinstated as director and shareholder of the company.
A court has shut down the latest legal spat between the children of one of Australia's richest families, finding a lawsuit over a $200 million real estate transaction was not brought in good faith and that running the case was not in the best interests of the company involved in the deal.