Two courts have ruled that in competing class actions against Hyundai and Kia over allegedly faulty anti-lock braking systems, a plaintiff’s bid to transfer one of the cases from Victoria to the Federal Court should precede a carriage fight, deeming it the “straightforward” option.
A judge has signed off on a 25 per cent group costs order in a class action against Suncorp subsidiary AAI, after accepting that the back-up plan of law firm Maurice Blackburn was not artificially uncertain.
A group representing Australian parents has taken EnergyAustralia to court for allegedly misleading over 400,000 consumers by marketings a product involving a carbon offset scheme as ‘carbon neutral’.
The Fair Work Commission has found that insurer IAG did not unfairly dismiss a veteran employee after a company review of her at-home cyber activity revealed extensive periods of “no or minimal keyboard activity”.
A class action against Optus over a cyberattack that left the data of up to 10 million customers exposed is seeking access to an independent report prepared by Deloitte into the causes of the hack.
The Federal Court has granted a bid by plaintiffs in competing class actions against Downer EDI to transfer their cases to the Victoria Supreme Court, where a four-way contest will take place.
The High Court has dismissed a constitutional appeal by Irish insurer Zurich, clearing the way for a class action over an allegedly defective New Zealand apartment block to proceed in the NSW Supreme Court.
Insurer Vero is fighting a ruling that added it to a class action against cladding manufacturer Fairview Architectural over allegedly combustible cladding.
One Nation’s NSW leader Mark Latham has responded to a defamation case by Alex Greenwich by claiming his homophobic tweet was an honest opinion and improved, rather than damaged, the independent Sydney MP’s reputation.
Class actions throw up all manner of ethical conundrums, but a recent Federal Court decision has shined a light on the question of whether funders and law firms should take out loans to run class actions and whether they can charge the costs to group members.