Over the last 30 years, the class action regimes have undoubtedly improved access to justice, helped to resolve disputes more efficiently, and reduced the costs of litigation. While the current spotlight on the role of litigation funding and returns to group members is warranted, other aspects of the regimes are ripe for reform, say Clayton Utz partners Greg Williams, Andrew Morrison, Alexandra Rose and senior associate Will Atfield.
Qantas has been ordered to pay $9.5 million in unpaid fees after the Western Australia Supreme Court resolved a dispute over the “fair and reasonable” amount owed for terminal services provided for the airline’s domestic and international flights.
The liquidator of collapsed vocational education provider Careers Australia can serve its lawsuit on two of the company’s former directors now living overseas, after a judge found a prima facie case of insolvent trading and breaches of directors duties had been made out.
Johnson Winter & Slattery has bolstered its growing cyber practice with the appointment of a leading data privacy lawyer from Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
Lawyers behind a scheme to defraud members of a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities have offered $10.6 million to resolve a case that has put them on the hook for at least double that sum.
Commonwealth Bank unit CommSec has agreed to pay a $20 million penalty for a series of “serious and unacceptable” failures that lead to excessive fee charges, a court has heard.
Another fight over privilege may be on the cards in a shareholder class action over the collapse of the Hastie Group, with Deloitte flagging its partners may claim privilege over certain parts of the accounting giant’s evidence.
Settlement talks in a class action brought by Shine Lawyers against Astora Women’s Health on behalf of women injured by allegedly defective pelvic mesh products are “well advanced”, while mediation in two similar actions is ongoing, a court has heard.
The Northern Territory government has hit back at a class action over allegedly underresourced and discriminatory healthcare services in the Indigenous community of Wadeye, saying it cannot be sued over its funding decisions.
A law firm that ran two class actions over the St Patrick’s Day bushfires has lost a bid to have group members foot the bill for $50,000 in adverse costs, with a judge saying there was “no basis” for the request.