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Class action experts have come to the defence of boutique law firm Phi Finney McDonald as heavyweight Maurice Blackburn appeals a judge's ruling to choose the "less experienced" firm to lead a shareholder class action against BHP Billiton.
Maurice Blackburn has criticised a judge's decision to award carriage of a massive shareholder class action against BHP over the fatal collapse of a dam at its Brazilian mine to "less experienced" firm Phi Finney McDonald, lodging what is now the second high-stakes challenge to a ruling permanently staying a competing class action.
Logistics startup GetSwift has confirmed it will fight an appeal to the High Court by law firm Squire Patton Boggs challenging a landmark ruling that permanently stayed two of three competing shareholder class actions against the company.
GetSwift failed to disclose to investors that under an agreement announced with Amazon, the e-commerce giant had no obligation to use the logistics provider for any of its deliveries, according to new court documents filed in the shareholder class action against GetSwift and its founders.
Last year was an exciting one for class action lawyers, with monumental court decisions on competing cases, cross-jurisdictional spats, proportionality in settlements and the power of judges to decide how a recovery is distributed. Here, top class action litigators tell us what the most significant rulings of 2018 were and why the decisions will continue to matter this year.
The law firms that challenged a ruling staying their cases against GetSwift gave the Full Federal Court a chance to guide judges managing competing class actions, but they can't avoid paying their opponents' legal costs because the court happened to seize the opportunity.
A law firm on the losing end of a landmark ruling over competing shareholder class actions against GetSwift has argued that a proposed opt-out notice to group members should wait until after its High Court appeal. And the judge will let the firm make its argument, after hearing that the winning law firm has been, in his words, "sitting on its hands".
A judge has chosen a winner in a battle of law firms vying to run a massive shareholder class action against BHP over the fatal collapse of a dam at its Brazilian mine, saying the funding arrangement behind the successful case would best serve class members.
Law firm Squire Patton Boggs is taking a fight over a ruling that shut down its shareholder class action against logistics startup GetSwift to the High Court.
And then there were four. Plaintiffs law firm Slater & Gordon wants to consolidate its AMP shareholder class action with Maurice Blackburn's case and hand over the reins to its rival, a deal signed the day the Full Federal Court affirmed the power of judges to shut down competing class actions.