A Federal Court judge has frowned on a bid to transfer 12 individual cases over allegedly defective pelvic mesh to various state and territory courts, saying the manner in which the cases had been brought reminded him of the 1990’s when “mobile phones resembled house bricks” and suggesting the cases could be brought as a class action.
A self-imposed cap on legal fees and a reduced funding cut of a $16.5 million settlement in a class action against failed construction company Forge Group was the right call by the law firm and the funder behind the case, a judge has said in his reasons for approving the deal.
A judge has signed off on a $16.5 million settlement of a shareholder class action against collapsed engineering and construction company Forge Group.
The construction company behind Sydney’s Opal Tower has filed a cross claim seeking $30 million from structural architect WSP Structures over its allegedly faulty building design.
Construction firm Icon Co has pressed the Federal Court for an expedited hearing in its case against insurers Liberty Mutual Insurance and QBE over the 2018 Opal Tower disaster, saying it wants to resolve the matter before a class action brought by apartment owners in building progresses too far.
Construction firm Icon Co has rejected QBE Underwriting’s argument that exclusion clauses in coverage for Sydney’s Opal Tower meant the insurer did not have to indemnity it after a series of major cracks in the building led to the evacuation of thousands of residents on Christmas Eve last year.
The law firm and funder behind a class action against collapsed engineering and construction company Forge Group, former directors and their insurers, which has now settled for $16.5 million, have proposed cuts that would see $8.25 million left over for distribution to group members.
QBE Underwriting has defended its decision to deny insurance coverage to the builder of Sydney’s troubled Opal Tower development, claiming the cracking was not “major” and did not cause last year’s Christmas Eve evacuation.
The defendants in the Sydney Opal Tower class action have been formally banned from contacting represented group members about their claims while the proceeding remains on foot, after communications were allegedly sent to apartment owners.
The NSW government’s Sydney Olympic Park Authority, which is facing a class action brought by owners of apartments at the troubled Opal Tower, has laid the blame on the developer, designer and builder behind the project.