The judge overseeing two competing class actions against Google has issued a warning to law firms that agree to team up and work on a class action together, saying that in other markets such arrangements might be viewed as “something akin to a cartel”.
Insurance Australia Limited and Insurance Manufacturers of Australia have denied a class action’s claims that they misled insurance customers about loyalty discounts by calculating their premiums using an algorithm designed to maximise renewals.
A fourth law firm is investigating a class action against Google for allegedly abusing its dominance in the market for online advertising.
Uranium miner Paladin Energy is facing a second shareholder class action over alleged misleading disclosures to the market about expected production at its flagship uranium mine in Namibia.
A judge has balked at Maurice Blackburn’s hourly rates in a jointly run class action against Treasury Wine Estates, questioning why the firm charged 20 per cent more than fellow preeminent class action firm Slater & Gordon.
On the first day of a seven-week class action trial, a judge has heard that AMP Superannuation failed to renegotiate interest rates with AMP Bank for up to 12 years, despite investing as much as $2 billion in customers’ superannuation with the bank.
A former Slater & Gordon executive who says she was wrongfully accused of sending a firm-wide email with sensitive salary data has sued the law firm for negligence, saying it should have done more to exonerate her.
Western Power, Ventia, and a property owner found jointly liable for loss arising from the Parkerville bushfire are equally liable to each other for any costs orders in favour of the plaintiffs in the case, after a judge found he could not disturb existing costs orders in a new proceeding.
Shareholders are set to pocket 58 per cent of a $65 million settlement in a class action against Treasury Wine Estates if the deal is approved by a court at a hearing this month.
The lead plaintiff in a class action alleging police conducted thousands of unlawful strip searches at music festivals in NSW has sought $130,000 in damages on the first day of trial against the state.