A judge has ordered soft class closure in a class action against Suncorp unit AAI over allegedly worthless insurance, saying that knowing how many of the 200,000 group members are likely to participate would assist in resolving the case.
Suncorp subsidiary AAI has asked a court to order soft class closure in a group proceeding over allegedly worthless insurance, saying it was “passing strange” that over 200,000 group members “don’t know they’re even group members” three years into the case.
The country’s most experienced class action law firm won two and lost two in last year’s beauty parades before the courts, showing track record is not everything when it comes to winning carriage of cases and that picking the winner can be a tricky business. From line-ball decisions to law firm team-ups and the lowest contingency fee order yet, here’s how 2023’s class action contests went down.
The law firm that’s running a franchisee class action against United Petroleum over allegedly loss-making Pie Faces stores has has won its bid to peek at draft communications the oil giant wants to send to group members.
United Petroleum, which is facing a franchisee class action over allegedly loss-making Pie Face stores, is resisting a plaintiff law firm’s bid for “a right of veto” over the petrol giant’s communications with group members, even those not represented by the firm.
Two law firms that were able to “work cooperatively” to join their cases have been awarded carriage of a shareholder class action against mining firm Downer EDI. The judge overseeing the proceedings also approved a group costs order application that proposed a “reasonable rate” of return to the firms.
A judge has approved a common fund order awarding $6.88 million to the funder behind a class action against Fonterra that settled for $25 million, opting not to wait for a much-anticipated appeals court ruling on the power to make CFOs at settlement.
The field of competitors in a four-way contest to run a shareholder class action against Downer EDI over a $40 million profit overstatement has narrowed with the consolidation of three cases, leaving one firm to face criticism over its comparative inexperience running group proceedings.
The applicants in competing class actions against Downer EDI have set out their proposals for the courts overseeing the cases, with two calling for orders staying the proceedings of their rivals, and another seeking consolidation.
Multiple class actions against Downer EDI over accounting irregularities might be bound for the High Court as complex legal questions swirl, a judge said on Wednesday.