German cladding manufacturer 3A Composites has denied that its cladding is unsafe and caused class members loss and damage, instead pointing the finger at unknown third parties and arguing the Federal Court does not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Lawyerly’s inaugural class action report shows one plaintiffs firm dominating the field, running more than twice the active class actions as its nearest rivals. But a group of capable and ambitious firms are nipping at its heels.
Many commercial dispute resolution groups in Australia are getting a boost from class action defence work, as more parties get dragged into increasingly complex representative proceedings. But the Big Six firms are still the ones companies turn to the most when staring down a class action.
Eleven law firms reign supreme in the legal market for class actions in Australia, with ten or more class actions on their plates, and two firms are way ahead of the pack, according to Lawyerly’s inaugural ranking of the country’s top class action groups.
The plaintiffs in an investor class action brought against the insurers of Dick Smith have lost an early bid to determine the viability of their claim, amid concerns that the total value of five separate cases against the failed retailer will exhaust the $300 million limit of two insurance policies.
A shareholder class action against CIMIC Group will fight a strike out application it has slammed as an “opportunistic” late-stage move by the global engineering firm made only because the trial was previously vacated.
The parties in two shareholder class actions brought against online fashion retailer Surfstitch will make one “last, final attempt” to resolve the proceedings in mediation after a proposed settlement was thwarted by a judge last year, a court heard Friday.
The plaintiffs in three competing RCR Tomlinson shareholder class actions have been told to “get their act together” by the judge who forcibly consolidated their proceedings, after the parties revealed they were as yet unable to agree on joint funding terms.
Engineering company UGL has reached an in-principle settlement in a class action alleging it kept shareholders in the dark about problems with a $900 million contract for a power plant for the Ichthys LNG project in the Northern Territory.
A judge has promised the parties in the Sydney Opal Tower class action that the matter will be “resolved expeditiously”, despite the plaintiff’s concerns that cross-claims by the defendant and procedural timeframes will cause delays.