As states across Australia shut down non-essential services and close borders in the battle to control the spread of the coronavirus, companies are turning to their lawyers for guidance on everything from contracts to disclosure obligations, staff reductions to workplace health and safety issues. Lawyerly talked to practitioners to find out what was on the minds of their corporate clients.
Lawyerly’s Litigation Firms of 2019 racked up multiple wins last year in high-stakes litigation against formidable opponents, including the country’s top regulators.
The end of the common fund order is a setback for class actions that will see a revival of the days of closed proceedings, costly bookbuilding, higher commission rates and the shelving of worthy but risky cases, experts say, and all eyes will now turn to state and federal governments to see how they respond to calls for legislative intervention.
More than a decade after the High Court ruled that third parties could finance legal proceedings in Australia, the court has issued another game changing decision that puts limits on what judges will do to help a litigation funder out. Here, Lawyerly gives you a quick guide to the key takeaways from Wednesday’s judgment.
The High Court is poised this week to issue its judgment in a case challenging the validity of common fund orders in class actions, a ruling that could see litigation funding commission rates creep back up after hitting record lows.
The careful, methodical approach of 20-year class action veteran and Allens partner Jenny Campbell is in demand in the fast-changing class action world, where the only certainty is uncertainty.
The Full Federal Court is set to hear appeals in four class actions in the August sitting, giving the court a chance to address important issues, including cost-capping in joint class actions and security for costs in unfunded cases. Here, we give you the run-down on each of the upcoming challenges.
Businesses and other class action defendants have paid in excess of $4 billion in settlements since the class action regime was introduced in Australia, and litigation funders have pocketed about $583 million, a new report reveals.
Australia’s four biggest lenders had an expensive year in court last year, but with cases spilling over into the new year and the fallout from the Royal Commission expected to see a litigation blitz by regulators and class action lawyers, much more is in store for the banks in 2019. Here, Lawyerly takes a look at the court cases facing ANZ Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp so far this year.
A challenge to the legality of common fund orders, an appeal to the High Court over the power of judges to stay competing cases, one of the first judgments in a shareholder class action and reform proposals promise to make 2019 another action-packed year in class actions. Here, experts give their predictions for the class action landscape this year.