A judge considering bids to de-class COVID-19 business interruption class actions has said group members can sign up for the representative proceedings but later decide to make claims directly with their insurers.
Junior doctors have notched an important victory in a class action alleging Peninsula Health failed to pay overtime hours, with a judge finding the healthcare provider liable to pay for overtime that was not expressly authorised.
A judge overseeing four COVID-19 business interruption class actions has questioned a decision by insurers to use ten test cases to resolve the issue of whether they had to indemnify policyholders instead of a class action, which would have been binding.
A law firm is considering an ‘unprecedented’ move to reconvene its class action on behalf of Robodebt victims, which can only happen with the Commonwealth’s permission, but the Albanese government might consent as a way to score political points, an expert has told Lawyerly.
A lawyer behind a settled class action against the previous government’s Robodebt disaster has called for the case to be reconvened in the wake of a report that blasted the “crude and cruel” scheme, as Government Service Minister Bill Shorten suggests victims could sue individual Coalition ministers.
A judge has adjourned a trial in a case brought by junior doctors seeking to recoup alleged unpaid overtime, despite noting his annoyance over the applicants’ “180 degree turn” on the question of whether the hearing should await delivery of judgment in a related case.
Artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT is facing a landmark defamation claim by Hepburn shire council mayor Brian Hood, alleging it incorrectly identified him as someone facing charges in a foreign bribery scandal rather than his role as whistleblower.
Two class action law firms have teamed up to investigate possible legal action against Latitude Financial over a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of 14 million customer records.
Courts stepped up their scrutiny of class action settlements in 2022, with judges grappling with difficult issues such as funding commissions in employment cases and whether settlements, even those worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were fair to group members.
Class action settlement sums reached new highs last year, with the ten largest agreements totalling almost $1 billion, almost half of which was secured by one plaintiff law firm.