Two competing shareholder class actions against developer Lendlease have been locked in for a beauty parade before the judge who recently forced the consolidation of three class actions against engineering firm RCR Tomlinson.
A judge has sent insolvency firm Ferrier Hodgson back to the drawing board to redraft its pleadings against the former directors and auditors of collapsed construction company Forge Group, warning that the overlapping actions were at risk of becoming an “unrideable bull”.
A judge overseeing a consolidated shareholder class action against logistics company Brambles has expressed frustration with the parties, who are locked in an unresolved discovery battle three months after his order consolidating the litigation.
Rival law firms Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald will be allowed to work together without consolidating their separate shareholder class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, after a judge ruled that the bank had overstated the potential for extra costs and delays.
The Queensland government has agreed to pay $190 million to resolve an historic class action on behalf of 10,000 Indigenous workers for unpaid wages spanning over 30 years.
Noting the “significant and beneficial reduction” in recent funding rates, the judge overseeing a shareholder class action against recycling company Sims Metal Management has signed off on an order capping the commission of the funders at 25 per cent of any net proceeds and setting a minimum 50 per cent of any recovery for group members.
A judge has praised funder IMF Bentham for not seeking to recover from group members the cost of a withdrawn common fund application in one of Shine Lawyer’s toxic foam class actions, agreeing instead to cop the loss itself.
The lead applicant in a shareholder class action against global engineering firm CIMIC Group has made a bid for indemnity costs, after a last-minute subpoena of three former executives led to the trial being vacated.
Recycling company Sims Metal Management has responded to a shareholder class action ahead of a hearing on Tuesday, denying it breached its continuous disclosure obligations and partially placing the blame for any losses at the feet of group members.
A judge has tossed an application for a common fund order in a class action over the use of toxic foam on a RAAF base near Katherine, NT after a barrister for the lead applicants said the bid would be withdrawn if the judge appointed an independent “contradictor” to scrutinise the proposed funding structure.