A Melbourne lawyer, who formerly represented gangland figures, has been reprimanded and fined $9,000, after a court found he recklessly misled the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner regarding his involvement in a de-facto relationship matter in which unsatisfactory professional conduct was allege
A judge has approved a settlement he previously expressed a “nagging feeling of disquiet about” in a class action against fundraiser Appco Group, after group members “overwhelmingly” supported the proposal and further cash assets were uncovered that increased the settlement amount to $2.05 million.
A judge has again postponed signing off on a $1.9 million settlement in a $65 million sham contracting class action against fundraiser Appco Group after expressing “disquiet” about the deal in which the 1,100 group members would get “diddly squat” and ordered that notices be sent to group members informing them of their option to seek alternative lawyers.
Almost 7,000 disabled workers have been repaid $109 million in wages as part of a class action settlement distribution that has been called a “fitting end to an historic fight”.
A judge has hit the applicant in a sham contraction class action against Appco with costs for forcing the company to file a defence to a superseded pleading, saying the usual “no costs” rule in Fair Work cases had less force in actions backed by third party litigation funders.