A $100 million shareholder class action against supermarket giant Woolworths has settled for $44.5 million, a few days before a 15-day trial was set to begin.
Lawyerly’s Litigation Firms of 2020 delivered significant victories for clients last year in bet-the-company matters, thriving in a tumultuous year that saw courts and litigants adapt to virtual trials and other new norms that are sure to outlast the COVID-19 pandemic.
NAB has succeeded in blocking accused scammer Helen Rosamond and her executive services company Human Group from varying a freezing order in a case over an alleged $51 million fraudulent scheme so that she can pay her legal bills and living expenses.
Trial is set to begin February 2 in a $100 million shareholder class action against Woolworths over a February 2015 profit downgrade that allegedly led to a drop in the company’s share price.
The Fair Work Commission has found a Bank of Queensland manager was unfairly dismissed despite making a “careless” mistake which led to a fraudster nabbing nearly $40,000 of a customer’s money.
Payouts in class actions in 2020 largely kept pace with the previous year despite the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and other defendants paying more than $696 million to settle class actions last year.
Class action experts have knocked several recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee for reforming the class action system, including that group members be guaranteed at least 70 per cent of any settlement or judgment, saying this would be challenging to implement and could make disputes harder to resolve.
Properties near seven air force bases where allegedly toxic firefighting foam was used experienced a drop in land value because of the “stigma” of contamination, according to an expert report accepted by the Federal Court in a class action seeking compensation from the Federal government.
Two law firms that have filed competing class action against AMP over allegedly excessive insurance premiums have changed tack and agreed to consolidate the proceedings.
The Full Federal Court has issued a mixed bag ruling in a business interruption insurance dispute between Suncorp subsidiary Vero Insurance and a Melbourne café and restaurant, which sought indemnity for losses incurred during the COVID-19 lockdowns.