The commission rates of litigation funders have come under attack on the first day of a parliamentary inquiry into class actions, with the CEO of funder Omni Bridgeway in the firing line over a $10.5 million cut of a recent $42 million settlement in a class action against milk supplier Murray Goulburn.
A hearing in the Federal Government’s latest inquiry into class actions kicked off Monday with attacks on the credibility of one of the heads of Liberal think tank the Menzies Research Centre, who was excoriated by a Labor senator for providing “unsubstantiated” data from Herbert Smith Freehills that group members receive on average 39 per cent of class action proceeds.
Cladding manufacturer Fairview Architectural has filed for voluntary administration, citing challenges posed by COVID-19 and $1.5 million spent so far defending a class action alleging it misrepresented the quality of its “highly flammable” cladding.
The Victoria state government has launched reviews into the sexual harassment policies of its courts and tribunals and the law firms that provide services to the government, following allegations of sexual harassment against former High Court justice Dyson Heydon.
A judge has trimmed the costs the Commissioner of Patents owes Aristocrat Technologies after the gaming giant successfully appealed a ruling rejecting four of its gaming patents, saying Aristocrat had “over-egged the pudding” by submitting evidence from three experts on the patentability of its inventions.
A judge has warned counsel leading a shareholder class action against logistics provider GetSwift that “real persuasion” would be needed to convince him to allow the class to expand its case two months out from trial.
A judge has cut a request a security for costs in half in insurance rectification proceedings stemming from two class against sandalwood producer Quintis, saying the amount proposed by the funders bankrolling the case was “quite generous”.
A judge has ordered two class actions brought against 7-Eleven on behalf of franchisees to pay $3 million in security for costs as trial in the cases gets pushed to August next year.
A judge has pushed off a heated contest between law firms vying to lead a shareholder class action against construction giant Boral for what could be a year as a landmark High Court challenge plays out.
The law firm slammed by the Full Federal Court this week for its conduct in the Malaysia Airlines class action has apologised to the family unknowingly shut out of the class action, and has stood down the lead lawyer in the case.
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