The High Court has granted special leave to farmers in a class action against Advanta Seeds over allegedly contaminated product to challenge a court’s finding that a disclaimer nullified the company’s duty to protect growers against economic loss.
An Australian law firm is investigating a class action against drug manufacturers over a commonly prescribed antibiotic said to cause âdisablingâ side effects, including nerve damage and psychosis.
A former top judge appointed to decide the first-ever contest to administer a class action settlement has set out his criteria for making the choice, and has warned that giving the firm running a case a monopoly right to dole out the proceeds could lead to higher costs for group members and poorer settlement outcomes.
The runner-up in a contest to administer Johnson & Johnson’s $300 million settlement of two pelvic mesh class actions has lost a challenge to a decision awarding the prize to the team of Slater & Gordon, BDO and the firm of former Shine Lawyers solicitor Jan Saddler.
A class action is being prepared on behalf of women who claim to have suffered complications from Allergan breast implants linked to a rare form of cancer.
On the first day of a seven-week trial, the applicant in a class action against Monsanto has taken aim at the agrochemical giantâs âsame old approachâ to undermining decades of evidence it says demonstrates the cancer-causing properties of popular weed killer Roundup.
A judge has approved a $41.45 million settlement in a pelvic mesh class action against manufacturers Covidien and TFS but has put off deciding on the costs of the firm that ran the case, saying it is ânext to uselessâ when law firms appoint their own costs consultants.
Class actions throw up all manner of ethical conundrums, but a recent Federal Court decision has shined a light on the question of whether funders and law firms should take out loans to run class actions and whether they can charge the costs to group members.
Shine Lawyers has lost its bid to recover $32 million in interest on a loan it took out to run two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson, with a judge finding it would make a âmarginal settlement less than reasonableâ.
Shine Lawyersâ bid to recoup “exorbitant” interest on a loan it took out to run pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has raised new ethical dilemmas beyond the usual “sweaty palms and huge vexation” in most group proceedings, a judge has said.