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Payouts in class actions in 2020 largely kept pace with the previous year despite the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and other defendants paying more than $696 million to settle class actions last year.
A judge will appoint an independent barrister to determine the allocation of settlement proceeds between insured group members and their insurers from two St Patrick's Day bushfire class actions, finding that the 'overly combative' conduct of law firm Maddens warranted the appointment despite the extra costs involved.
A judge has signed off on nearly $3.4 million in costs in a $5.7 million settlement reached in a class action over a 2016 stampede at the Falls Music and Arts Festival in Victoria.
The Andrews government is facing another COVID-19 related class action, this one on behalf of farm operators financially stung by Victorian and South Australian border closures.
A Victoria Supreme Court judge has given the greenlight to a $5.7 million settlement in a class action brought by those injured during a 2016 stampede at the Falls Music and Arts Festival.
An independent costs consultant has raised concerns about the legal costs sought by Maddens Lawyers from a $5.7 million settlement of the Falls Festival class action after the senior barrister leading the case delayed signing off on his rates with the law firm for a year.
A judge has signed off on a $10.5 million settlement in a class action over the 2015 Scotsburn bushfire in Victoria, but slashed the costs of the law firm that brought the case by over $1 million.
Maddens has once again been criticised for its non-compliant costs agreements, three months after receiving similar feedback from a Victoria Supreme Court judge overseeing the firm's bushfire class actions.
A class action launched over the Scotsburn bushfire that burnt down 12 homes and ravaged over 4,000 hectares in Victoria in December 2015 has reached a $10.5 million settlement with agricultural machinery company Agrison and insurer Auto & General Insurance Company.
A NSW council has agreed to fork over $16 million to settle a class action over a 2009 rubbish tip fire, after the High Court declined to hear the council's challenge to a ruling that found it was responsible for the damage caused by the fire.