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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.
A case that challenges the test for determining casual employment under the Fair Work Act is a matter of public importance and will be heard by the Full Federal Court, the court's top judge has said.
A judge looked dimly Monday on a pitch by baby food maker Bellamy's to limit to $4.5 million the costs incurred by the law firms leading joint class actions against the company, saying the request was "very ambitious".
Labour hire company Workpac has been fined just $1,650 after a groundbreaking Full Federal Court decision that a casual employee could be eligible for annual leave, with a judge saying the low penalty reflected the lack of clarity in the law.
The funder that's bankrolling a shareholder class action against Murray Goulburn is seeking court approval for a funding agreement under which it would get a 28 per cent cut of any settlement.
And then there were four. Plaintiffs law firm Slater & Gordon wants to consolidate its AMP shareholder class action with Maurice Blackburn's case and hand over the reins to its rival, a deal signed the day the Full Federal Court affirmed the power of judges to shut down competing class actions.
The showdown between five law firms vying to lead a class action over the AMP fees for no service scandal kicked off in the NSW Supreme Court Thursday with counsel for one case saying the contest, although costly and consuming, would ultimately be a win for all class action participants.
AMP's advice executive Jack Regan, the witness who aired the firm's fees-for-no-service dirty laundry at the Royal Commission, has retired, a day before five law firms compete to lead a class action over the scandal.
The two funders paying for a shareholder class action against facility services company Spotless Group want 25 percent of any net settlement or judgment in the case, a rate that mirrors the commission approved in a common fund order now at the centre of a constitutional challenge.
Blockbuster has lost another round in its case against a husband and wife franchisee that sold a store's assets to a competitor, with a court ruling the company could not sock the pair with the costs of its failed appeal.