A judge overseeing a $192.5 million settlement in an oil spill class action against PTTEP Australia on behalf of Indonesian seaweed farmers has balked at the “very large” costs sought by Maurice Blackburn for administering the deal, expressing concerns that class action costs are “getting out of control”.
A judge has indicated he will approve settlements totalling $2.7 million reached with disgraced senior barrister Norman O’Bryan and a cost consultant retained by the legal team behind the Banksia class action fraud.
A law firm is probing a shareholder class action against former ASX-listed Salt Lake Potash and auditor EY, alleging the company failed to disclose material information about its financial position before entering receivership in late 2021.
A $47 million settlement in a class action against ANZ — one of three settlements in a series of class actions against the big banks over ‘junk’ consumer credit insurance — was fair and reasonable, a judge has said.
A settlement with directors in an investor class action brought over the collapse of advisory firm Linchpin Capital is in the interests of group members, a judge has said.
The Queensland government has signed off on ANZ’s proposed $4.9 billion merger with Suncorp’s banking arm, after the company agreed to remain headquartered in Brisbane as a dedicated insurance company.
Victoria’s gambling regulator has slapped Crown Melbourne with a $20 million penalty for failing to pay proper casino tax.
A human rights group has told the Federal Court it will file for habeas corpus in a bid to compel the federal government to bring home Australians stuck in Syrian detention camps, with eight women, all Australian citizens, and 18 children being held in Camp Roj in the country’s northeast.
Shine Lawyers has been ordered to hand over its costs agreement with the lead applicant in a class action over norovirus outbreaks on Carnival’s Sun Princess cruise ship, amid a likely plan by the cruise operator to seek security for costs in the no win, no fee class action.
A judge overseeing a superannuation class action against two Westpac units that settled for $30 million has flagged the possibility of appointing a contradictor to examine the litigation funder’s claimed cut of the settlement, which includes a deduction of over $1 million to cover the costs of after-the-event insurance.
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