The NSW Court of Appeal has passed on the question of whether a judge can make a common fund order when a class action settles to ensure a certain return to litigation funders, but the issue is not going away, whatever the Federal Court’s decision in a parallel case.
Funeral insurer ACBF Funeral Plans and parent company Youpla Group are facing legal action from the corporate regulator alleging they breached financial service laws by making false claims in a funeral insurance policy sold primarily to Aboriginal consumers.
The Attorney-General’s office has begun its review into whether the Privacy Act is fit for the digital age, including whether the law should be changed to allow consumers to bring lawsuits, including class actions, for privacy breaches.
Accounting firm Findex has lost an appeal of a court’s judgment tossing its case against a former financial advisor, despite the court finding he had poached the company’s clients and caused $742,000 in losses.
A routine practice by the funder behind the scandal-ridden Banksia class action of deleting emails, documented in a letter by his solicitors just days before his death, isn’t consistent with the electronic record maintained in another class action in which he was involved, a court overseeing a trial in the case has heard.
The Federal Court has approved what is thought to be only the second ever audio-visual opt out notice in a class action, a move that will make it easier for group members to find out about class actions they may be eligible for.
A former general manager of Sigma Healthcare is facing up to twenty years in prison after being charged with two counts of insider trading.
A Sydney-based law firm is conducting a class action investigation into medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific’s pelvic mesh products, adding to the growing list of companies facing lawsuit by women who claim they experienced pain and other adverse symptoms due to the implants.
Westpac has reached settlements in two separate US class actions over the bank’s trading activity in the bank bill swap rate market and disclosures in relation to its compliance with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
A judge has expressed skepticism at claims by accounting firm Pitcher Partners that the lead applicant of a now dropped class action over its auditing advice to Slater & Gordon should be hit with indemnity costs for discontinuing the case.
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