A recent High Court decision that dealt a blow to builders and developers in NSW will usher in a return to a pre-2002 litigation regime, when plaintiffs only sued the parties with the deepest pockets, an expert has told Lawyerly.
Some of Australia’s biggest law firms were dragged to court in 2024, facing lawsuits — and even class actions — by disgruntled clients and aggrieved employees.
Class action settlements leaped in value last year, with three settlements topping the $200 million mark.
Proposed new regulations would give the ACCC a boost in targeting anti-competitive conduct by digital platforms, but a “big gap” remains in its powers, an expert told Lawyerly.
A time-strapped judge’s decision that was set aside for “uncritical copying and pasting” exposes deeper issues about stressed judges at under-resourced courts with “extraordinary workloads”, experts say.
Landmark High Court decisions in class actions against Toyota and Ford on how damages should be calculated for defective vehicles will spark more consumer class actions, a plaintiff lawyer told Lawyerly.
A ruling that clarified the materiality requirement in continuous disclosure cases could lead to more regulatory actions and activist shareholder claims, but won’t boost shareholder class actions, experts say.
While the latest round of Respect@Work reforms will likely increase litigation by shielding employees from costs in unsuccessful discrimination cases, this may not spell bad news for employers.
Expect more cybersecurity class actions following the introduction of a new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, experts on both sides of the bar table told Lawyerly.
A ruling this week that kept intact a contingency fee rate of 27.5 per cent sought by Slater & Gordon to run a shareholder class action against G8 Education might encourage law firms to seek higher percentage payouts at the outset of group proceedings in Victoria.