In its latest move aimed at shielding companies from “opportunistic class actions”, the Morrison government has announced a temporary change to the continuous disclosure rules to give companies more wriggle room in updating shareholders during the coronavirus pandemic.
The settlement arrangement resolving five class actions against Volkswagen, which carved out hefty legal fees from the $120 million payout to drivers, could become more prevalent as the spotlight is once again trained on the cost of class actions. But the approach is not without controversy, experts say.
A proposed notice to eligible group members in Maurice Blackburn’s class action against AMP over its fees for no services scandal threatened to bar unregistered shareholders from any settlement stemming from mediation in the case, a threat barred by a recent ruling finding that courts have no power to close class actions to signed up group members, an appeals court has heard.
Norton Rose Fulbright has lost its second partner this month, with the defection of IP specialist Helen MacPherson to Baker McKenzie.
IP Australia has rejected a patent application by financial software firm Intuit, finding that its invention was not a manner of manufacture and contained “nothing of substance” from which patentable claims could be found.
Eight months after defeating a case brought by the prudential regulator alleging breaches of superannuation laws, wealth manager IOOF has escaped a class action without paying a cent to shareholders.
A security for costs fight is looming in the two class actions brought against 7-Eleven on behalf of franchisees, and the convenience store giant, which claims it has spent more than double the security paid so far in defending the cases, must produce 900 pages of invoices ahead of the battle.
Litigation funders say they do not oppose the government’s plan to subject them to a licensing regime, but legal experts told Lawyerly the crackdown on funders may go too far too fast and could harm class action litigants.
Essential Energy has lost its appeal of a ruling granting preliminary discovery for a potential class action over the 2018 Tathra bushfire in New South Wales.
The Full Federal Court has dismissed BP’s appeal of a ruling by the Fair Work Commission that reinstated a worker who was fired for sharing a video clip that included subtitles placed over a scene from the movie ‘Downfall’ about Adolf Hitler.
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