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.
The High Court’s abolition of the so-called Chorley exception, which allowed self-represented lawyers to recover their own expenses, also extends to incorporated legal practices through which a sole practitioner operates, a court has found.
A judge has rejected concerns about client poaching raised by the law firms involved in competing class actions against chemical giant Monsanto.
A $95 million settlement has been reached in a shareholder class action against facility services company Spotless Group, the largest settlement in a shareholder class action in two years.
Litigation funders will soon be brought under the current corporate licencing regime and subjected to greater regulatory scrutiny, an opening salvo by the Morrison Government in its latest probe into class actions in Australia.
Logistics company GetSwift and its directors have failed in a bid for a year-long delay of a trial scheduled to start next month in ASIC’s case alleging breaches of the Corporations Act, despite arguing that the procedural unfairness of a remote hearing gave the regulator a leg-up over the US-based company.
Heiko Constructions has won approval to appeal a ruling from Federal Circuit Court Judge Salvatore Vasta that found the company committed a breach of the Fair Work Act that was not pleaded by the former employee who brought the case.
A five-month litigation drought due to the difficulties of remote investigations and staff diversions during the coronavirus pandemic will end soon, ACCC chairman Rod Sims told Lawyerly, with enforcement action set to ramp back up in the second half of the year.
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