A court has approved a settlement between the liquidators of failed fund manager Equititrust and auditor KPMG, after not a single objection was raised by unitholders or creditors who won’t receive anything after the entire amount is paid to the funder.
The funder backing the IAG add-on insurance class action has agreed to a fixed 25 per cent commission, after the plaintiff copped criticism from a judge for the largely redacted funding agreement which called for lower rates if the case settled by a certain date.
A judge has told the lead plaintiff in a class action over allegedly excessive legal fees to get their “house in order”, amid complaints by the Queensland compensation law firm at the centre of the dispute that the litigation is “costing them a fortune”.
Colourful Sydney barrister Charles Waterstreet is seeking an urgent hearing to lift an “emergency” suspension imposed by the NSW Bar Association to allow him to continue working on a malicious prosecution case brought by a solicitor who was accused, and acquitted, of sexual assault by a client.
A self-described “vigilant lawyer against big companies” has attempted to make submissions regarding the costs incurred in the Sirtex shareholder class action settlement, with legal fees and funders’ commissions chewing up half of the $40 million settlement figure. Maurice Blackburn took the lead after two shareholder class actions relating to the biotech company’s revised sales…
An appeals court has dismissed a third attempt by directors of mortgage aggregator Connective Group to stifle a shareholder’s derivative lawsuit over a restructure that allowed the sale of 25 per cent of its business to Macquarie Bank.
A judge has refused to separately hear an application by a Clive Palmer-controlled company to wind up a time-share scheme at Queensland’s Palmer Coolum Resort, describing the bid as an attempt by the company to avoid making admissions about its conduct, which allegedly resulted in the “death of the resort”.
A firm owned by solicitor Mark Elliot has launched an appeal challenging costs orders made against it in a stayed class action against winemaker Treasury Wine Estates.
Landowners above the Sydney Metro underground tunnel will be allowed to claim compensation before construction is complete, with a court also preparing to consider potential compensation for any reduced development potential.
Global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has successfully defended the patent for its sedative drug Precedex against a validity challenge, a big win for the drug maker after a US court found last year that its patents for a ready-to-use version of the drug were invalid for obviousness.