Shine Lawyers

The federal government has agreed to pay up to $202 million to settle a class action on behalf of First Nations people in the Northern Territory who were allegedly denied wages owed for work performed over a nearly 40-year period.

A class action targeting Westpac subsidiary BT Funds Management and Tal Life Insurance is set to be discontinued less than a year after it was filed.

A ruling this week that kept intact a contingency fee rate of 27.5 per cent sought by Slater & Gordon to run a shareholder class action against G8 Education might encourage law firms to seek higher percentage payouts at the outset of group proceedings in Victoria.

Carnival PLC has denied that a passenger, whose husband contracted COVID-19 and had to be put on a ventilator, had a “horrible” time aboard the ill-fated Ruby Princess, in a class action’s appeal of a finding that she was only entitled to $4,000 in damages.

A class action against Carnival over a COVID-19 outbreak aboard its Ruby Princess cruise ship has told the Full Court the lead applicant is entitled to damages “far in excess” of the $4,000 awarded by the trial judge for distress and disappointment.

Cruise operator Carnival PLC has mounted a cross-appeal aimed at overturning a judge’s finding that it negligently failed to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship, telling the Full Court that the primary judge’s findings were not consistent with his reasons.

The High Court has been asked to overturn a Full Court decision finding lawyers can take a cut from a class action settlement under a solicitors’ common fund order and to finally settle the question of whether the court has the power to issue common fund orders at all.

A law firm is investigating claims against the manufacturers of popular heartburn and acid reflux drugs, alleging they could be responsible for causing stomach cancers and kidney failure in approximately 100,000 people.

A law firm has secured more funds to cover the cost of distributing a $20 million settlement reached in a class action against telco contractor BSA, but not as much as it wanted, with a judge saying the firm would have been stuck with its initial estimate if the administration gig had been put out to tender.

Lawyers are allowed to take a cut from a class action settlement or judgment under a so-called solicitors’ common fund order, the Full Federal Court has ruled, saying they are a permissive use of the court’s power.