Nando’s Australia has been criticised for claiming that its costs in a dispute against a single franchisee could reach close to $2 million, with an associate judge saying the bill could kickstart a precedent that leads to “the end of litigation as we know it”.
Three decades on from its rocky beginnings, when representatives of the coalition opposition decried the Part IVA bill as a “monstrosity” and as “looney”, “half baked” and “wrong” during parliamentary debates, the class action procedure and its legitimacy and efficacy have come to gain acceptance across the spectrum of practitioners and among the judiciary, says Maurice Blackburn’s Julian Schimmel.
The former general counsel of UK-based fintech Littlepay has filed a $300,000 lawsuit accusing her former employer of bullying and discrimination upon her return to work following the birth of her twins.
ANZ has hit back at claims in a class action that it slugged retrospective interest on credit card accounts and that its interest terms were not explicit, arguing the term ‘retrospective’ is liable to “confuse” the issues to be decided by the court.
A judge will approve a $28 million settlement resolving a class action against Arnold Bloch Leibler over advice the law firm gave to Slater & Gordon ahead of a disastrous acquisition. A 28 per cent commission for the case’s funder will also get the court’s nod.
Mitsubishi has denied class action allegations that it made misleading fuel efficiency representations on labels affixed to the windshields of over 70,000 Triton Utes, and says it can’t be sued under the Australian Consumer Law because the labels were required by law.
Over the last 30 years, the class action regimes have undoubtedly improved access to justice, helped to resolve disputes more efficiently, and reduced the costs of litigation. While the current spotlight on the role of litigation funding and returns to group members is warranted, other aspects of the regimes are ripe for reform, say Clayton Utz partners Greg Williams, Andrew Morrison, Alexandra Rose and senior associate Will Atfield.
Qantas has been ordered to pay $9.5 million in unpaid fees after the Western Australia Supreme Court resolved a dispute over the “fair and reasonable” amount owed for terminal services provided for the airline’s domestic and international flights.
The liquidator of collapsed vocational education provider Careers Australia can serve its lawsuit on two of the company’s former directors now living overseas, after a judge found a prima facie case of insolvent trading and breaches of directors duties had been made out.
Johnson Winter & Slattery has bolstered its growing cyber practice with the appointment of a leading data privacy lawyer from Corrs Chambers Westgarth.