The number of new class actions so far this year has fallen short of recent years, and not a single shareholder proceeding has been lodged in 2024 to date, according to a new report.
A judge has questioned the law firm running a class action against medical glove maker Ansell on its application for a contingency fee rate of 40 per cent, which would equal the highest rate granted since Victoria allowed firms to earn a percentage profit of a group proceeding.
A law firm partner who alleges a Melbourne solicitor failed to properly advise him on a share sale agreement with Slater & Gordon in 2014 declined assistance before signing a term sheet that outlined he could not sell his shares in the firm for three years, a court has heard.
A shareholder has filed an application for preliminary discovery against KMPG and water treatment company Phoslock as she weighs a possible class action over the company’s past fraud and mismanagement.
Lawyers are allowed to take a cut from a class action settlement or judgment under a so-called solicitors’ common fund order, the Full Federal Court has ruled, saying they are a permissive use of the court’s power.
The Federal Court is set to become a more attractive forum for class actions now that the Full Court has confirmed it has power to make orders granting solicitors a contingency fee from any settlement or judgment in a group proceeding.
Generic drug maker Mayne Pharma has resolved a shareholder class action centred on disclosures connected to price-fixing claims by US regulators.
A class action on behalf of Axsesstoday bondholders has reached a settlement with accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, with a court hearing that group members will get almost 50 per cent of the proceeds.
Previously noting the rate was “well outside the median range”, a judge has made an order granting the second highest contingency fee to a law firm running a shareholder class action against vehicle company FleetPartners Group, saying he was satisfied the group costs order was appropriate and necessary.
The liquidators of collapsed media company Big Un are pushing for a trial date in their two-year-old case against financier First Class Capital alleging a three million share purchase was part of a fraudulent design to inflate the collapsed company’s share price.