Three senior Federal Court judges will hear arguments Monday and Tuesday in a closely-watched appeal of a ruling that stayed two of three competing shareholder class actions against GetSwift as an abuse of process, and the impact of the Full Court’s ruling will be felt for a long time to come. Here are five major issues the court will be wrestling with over the next two days.
Regulating third-party litigation funders gets a resounding yes, but experts are divided on removing the ban on contingency fees and other recommendations for reforming the class action regime. Lawyerly spoke to defence and plaintiff-side lawyers, as well as funders, for their take on the recent proposals, and five major talking points emerged.
Unlockd’s case against Google is the first action in Australia to test a revamped law prohibiting misuse of market power, and one of the first private cases in the world to challenge Google’s dominance in court. For both sides, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
A decision on the fate of three class actions against logistics software company GetSwift is set for Wednesday, and counsel behind the competing cases aren’t the only lawyers waiting with baited breath.
The financing arrangement underwriting Quinn Emanuel’s shareholder class action against AMP, which will earn its partner Burford Capital a record low 10 percent of any recovery, sets a new standard in class action litigation funding, and is expected to spark greater price competition in the industry.
The Federal Government’s $26 million cut to ASIC’s budget has been blasted by experts and the opposition for undermining the corporate regulator, already facing the heat of the Banking Royal Commission.
Clayton Utz’s public statements referencing its terms of engagement with AMP in drafting an independent report are irrelevant if it knew the document was destined for the corporate regulator, legal experts say, and transcripts from the Royal Commission suggest the law firm did know.
Whether Google is liable as a publisher for defamatory content that pops up in search engine results is the question before the High Court on Tuesday, and the answer could drastically alter the way large Internet companies do business.
It warned offenders, and then it won its first case. Now with the one-year anniversary of laws protecting small businesses from unfair contracts ticking over, expect the consumer regulator to take no prisoners, lawyers say.
Lawyers are advising large companies to look hard at their business plans to keep on the good side of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission now that the enforcer has a new arsenal to deploy.