Two law firms behind landmark courtroom battles over climate change say they’re seeing a greater appetite for litigation by individuals and corporations who are concerned about the impacts of climate change and the government’s inaction on the issue.
US agricultural chemical giant FMC Corporation is facing a potential class action by grain farmers following reports of crop bleaching allegedly caused by its newly introduced Overwatch herbicide.
Lockdown orders by the Victorian government and an international travel ban in place last year during the first wave of COVID-19 did not trigger a business interruption clause in an IAG policy at the centre of a test case brought by insurers, a judge heard Monday.
Dam operator Seqwater will find out this week if its decision not to settle with group members in a class action over the 2011 Queensland floods has paid off.
The number of new class actions has nosedived in the past six months, but experts say the drop does not signal a long-term trend but a recalibration by lawyers and funders, whose ingenuity is not to be underestimated.
The Western Australian government will soon be hit with a class action on behalf of young people who allegedly suffered mistreatment while in juvenile detention, including excessive solitary confinement, improper living conditions and discrimination.
Insurance Australia has been hit with a class action by business owners whose claims for business interruption losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been denied.
The applicant in a class action against PricewaterhouseCoopers over a $50 million bond prospectus for asset finance lender Axsesstoday has dropped claims accusing the accounting giant of being involved in the company’s alleged misrepresentations.
A judge has questioned why a class action against Aveo Group has “stalled” after tossing the retirement home provider’s bid to determine group members’ loss in a preliminary hearing, saying the questions in the case could not be “neatly separated”.
As states across Australia grapple with lockdowns and rising COVID-19 cases, lawyers practising in a range of areas, from employment to insurance, are bracing for a fresh wave of pandemic-related litigation before the year is out.