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The question of power to make a common fund order at the end of a class action was no longer a hypothetical one and it was time to send the issue to the Full Federal Court. That's what the 7-Eleven class action judge was told 15 months ago but he failed to heed the advice, resulting in a court deeply divided and funders clamouring for reform.
The High Court killed off all common fund orders, not just the kind sought at the start of a class action, a judge has said as he cut in half the payout for a litigation funder bankrolling two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven.
A judge has blessed a law firm’s $16.6 million legal bill for running two franchisee class actions against 7-Eleven despite a contradictor’s argument that it had a “troubling” practice of deferring its fees to benefit the funder that bankrolled the cases.
The applicants in a shareholder class action against KPMG and former directors of defunct mining company CuDeco might press for clarity on the question of common fund orders in light of a ruling Tuesday morning that further split the Federal Court on the issue.
The applicants in a consolidated investor class action against Blue Sky Alternative Investments and auditor EY will be applying for a so-called solicitors common fund order, and will move to transfer the case to the contingency-fee friendly Victoria Supreme Court if the groundbreaking application fails.
The law firm running the Montara oil spill class action, which has settled for $192.5 million, is looking for a new lead applicant after the first one defected over concerns group members would lose half the settlement amount to legal costs and a funding commission.
A landmark Federal Court class action against private health insurer Medibank will be a test case for when privacy claims can sidestep the regulatory path, and whether group members can prove they suffered loss from exposure of their data.
Uber wants to trim a class action by taxi and hire drivers in four states over the introduction of UberX, saying the case lacks coherence.
UGL Limited has agreed to pay $438,000 to settle a class action accusing the engineering company of underpaying casual aluminium construction and manufacturing workers over a three year-period.
A2 Milk has succeeded in fending off a second shareholder class action in New Zealand for now, with New Zealand High Court finding that Australia is the more appropriate forum to hear the claims.