The power of courts to choose a single winner from a contest of competing class actions is not the likely target of the High Court in taking up a challenge to last year’s beauty parade of shareholder proceedings against AMP, but the analysis behind the decision to award Maurice Blackburn the prize could face scrutiny, experts say.
Two barristers facing professional misconduct allegations in relation to the Banksia securities class action submitted more than $2.65 million in legal bills without documentation more than five years after the class action was filed and may have done so at the behest of funder Mark Elliott, a court has heard.
Communications software company Cellos Software has been awarded $42 million in damages from its former CEO and director Jason Huber, who secretly bought and sold millions of company shares for personal profit.
The second of two class actions brought against Westpac over alleged anti-money laundering breaches has been denied discovery of what the bank claims are commercially sensitive documents until the law firms behind the class actions work out how their competing cases will proceed.
The High Court has agreed to weigh in on a decision last year to pick Maurice Blackburn’s case as the winner of a beauty parade of shareholder class actions against AMP over the wealth manager’s controversial fees for no service.
Publication of a document outlining the Australian Stock Exchange’s reasons for suspending the shares of ISignthis would be ‘damaging’ to the fintech company and should be barred until after the trial, a court has heard.
A judge has refused to delay a civil penalty hearing brought by ASIC against GetSwift, scheduled to begin in June, after the logistics company argued that the virtual hearing necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic would be prejudicial and the proceedings should be adjourned.
Sandalwood producer Quintis has agreed to settle two class actions by shareholders, but the claims against company founder Frank Wilson and auditor EY will proceed for now.
Lamenting that he now has less flexibility to manage commission rates, a judge has called for legislative intervention to give courts authority to regulate funding arrangements at the outset of class actions, a power stripped from them by the High Court late last year.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors is calling on the Federal Government to bar lawsuits over coronavirus-related disclosures, including class actions, but some lawyers warned the proposal would leave companies free to mislead and deceive shareholders.