Global resources giant BHP Group has asked the Full Court to rule foreign investors should be excluded from a shareholder class action over the 2015 Fundao dam disaster, arguing the class action regime only applies to those in Australia.
Grant Thornton has won approval to a bring a cross-claim against Forge Group, just three months ahead of trial in the collapsed engineering company’s case against the accounting firm and ten former directors for their alleged negligence in relation to its “uneconomic” purchase of CTEC in 2012.
The stage is set for a beauty parade of two shareholder class actions against Freedom Foods and Deloitte, and the judge overseeing the cases has embraced the recommendation of the High Court to appoint an independent barrister to represent group members in the contest.
Commercial and class action firm Banton Group is investigating a shareholder class action against embattled technology company Nuix in relation to its pre-IPO disclosures which could also ensnare shareholder Macquarie and its executives, auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and the joint lead managers on its float.
A judge has refused to sign off on $13.8 million in fees sought by law firm Maurice Blackburn as part of a $44.5 million settlement in a class action against Woolworths, saying the amount was “intuitively out of the range” of what was a reasonable legal bill for the case.
A record number of class actions were filed in the past year but shareholder class actions, which have been the primary target of the federal government’s attack on the class action regime, have decreased in significance, says Professor Vince Morabito.
Crown Resorts will fight to strike out allegations in a class action that the casino operator was liable for “oppressive conduct” under the Corporations Act, saying there was no legal basis for making the claims and no articulation by the class as to how the company engaged in the conduct.
Melbourne hospital operator Western Health is facing a potential class action by junior doctors alleging they have been denied overtime pay, the third underpayments class action to be filed by doctors in Victoria.
Maddens Lawyers is investigating a potential class action over the Mount Mackenzie Road fire in Tenterfield, NSW, allegedly caused by power lines operated by Essential Energy.
Homeowners in a Western Sydney suburb have filed a NSW Supreme Court class action against the local council, a developer and geotechnical engineers seeking compensation over homes they claim are sinking into the ground.