Last year was an exciting one for class action lawyers, with monumental court decisions on competing cases, cross-jurisdictional spats, proportionality in settlements and the power of judges to decide how a recovery is distributed. Here, top class action litigators tell us what the most significant rulings of 2018 were and why the decisions will continue to matter this year.
The lead applicant in a class action over the failure of Banksia Securities is on the hook for paying the legal costs of a class member who successfully challenged the funder’s cut of a $64 million settlement in the case.
A judge refused Tuesday to step down from two cases brought by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank seeking to claw back loans from group members in a settled class action over Great Southern Group’s managed investment schemes, saying no apprehension of bias could arise.
Two group members of a resolved class action over managed investment schemes operated by agribusiness Great Southern Group are bound by the settlement deed to repay loans they took out with the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, despite the severe constraints the settlement placed on individual defences, a judge has ruled.