Trial in a protracted class action against Deloitte over the collapse of construction group Hastie has been abandoned, signalling a settlement is in the works.
A judge overseeing a class action by family members and deceased estates of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations, which settled for $50.45 million, has said the case was a “positive example” of representative actions.
A shareholder class action against software company Nuix will go ahead as planned, after a stay application threatened to put the proceeding on ice pending the outcome of a separate case brought by ASIC.
A judge has approved a $50.45 million settlement in a class action by family members and deceased estates of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations. He has also approved a 13 per cent funding commission by way of a common fund order, saying debates about CFOs had become “lost in the label”.
A judge overseeing a competition class action against Queensland power companies Stanwell and CS Energy has warned that judges need to be inventive in how they manage large group proceedings, otherwise the “system will collapse”.
A judge is weighing up a law firm’s high legal costs against a union’s “bizarre” delay in a stoush over who should run a case against McDonald’s alleging 100,000 workers were denied rest breaks.
The question of whether judges have the power to hear employment cases as representative proceedings is headed to the Full Court after a union raised the issue as it battles to have its underpayments case against McDonald’s run instead of a Shine Lawyers class action.
Two judges on the Full Court bench hearing arguments over power to make common fund orders when approving class action settlements appeared to tip their hand on Monday, chipping away at a High Court judgment that has sowed deep division.
A judge has indicated his willingness to approve a $25 million settlement in a class action against dairy co-op Fonterra, but deferred the question of the funder’s cut until after the Full Court rules on whether the court has the power to make a common fund order at settlement.
The divisive issue of whether judges are empowered to make a common fund order to distribute the costs of a funding commission at the settlement stage of a class action is headed back to the Full Federal Court next week.