A judge has denied a law firm’s bid to stay a rival’s closed shareholder class action against construction giant Boral but warned courts must be alive to the potential for conflicts where lawyers stand to reap “very significant financial awards” from class action proceedings.
Sydney lawyer Leigh Johnson has lost her appeal in a class action launched by investors who allegedly sank $12.3 million into a fraudulent sports betting scheme run by convicted conman Peter Foster.
The Full Federal Court has found that Liberty Mutual Insurance, but not QBE, is required to cover Icon Construction’s losses stemming from the Opal Tower disaster, which has caused the builder $31 million in losses.
The head of law firm Levitt Robinson has avoided being personally hit with costs in a franchisee’s lawsuit against failed restaurant chain Fogo Brazilia, despite a judge finding he made “serious misjudgments” in his handling of the case.
A judge has ordered that class action firm Adero Law take down surveys from its website allegedly aimed at collecting registration data from group members in an underpayment class action against convenience store chain On The Run.
A Sydney law firm that brought a class action against Boston Scientific over allegedly defective pelvic mesh products has agreed to stay its case while a class action by Shine Lawyers moves ahead.
The lead applicant in a Maurice Blackburn-led class action against superannuation provider Colonial First State wants the Full Court to determine whether group members still have valid claims, after a judgment from the Victoria Supreme Court shut down a similar class action last year.
The Commonwealth says a landmark ruling in a class action that found it has a duty of care to protect Australian children from the effects of global warming is “incoherent” and distorts its ability to balance competing interests.
A judge has questioned the legal disbursements sought to be approved in a $30 million class action settlement against Westpac over allegedly excessive life insurance premiums, particularly the “extraordinarily large” barrister fees charged in the case.
Cladding manufacturer Fairview Architectural must allow the group members in a class action over allegedly combustible cladding products to search the company’s offices and access electronically stored information to carry out discovery, a judge has ruled.