Payouts in class actions in 2020 largely kept pace with the previous year despite the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and other defendants paying more than $696 million to settle class actions last year.
The law firm that led an unfunded class action against the Federal government over the controversial Robodebt scheme will ask the court to approve up to $16 million in legal costs when it seeks approval for the $112 million settlement reached in the class action last year.
A judge has rejected a bid by Uber to significantly trim a class action brought by Maurice Blackburn on behalf of successors and assignees or taxi drivers after the law firm unsuccessfully sought to add them to a separate class action against the ride share giant.
Class action experts have knocked several recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee for reforming the class action system, including that group members be guaranteed at least 70 per cent of any settlement or judgment, saying this would be challenging to implement and could make disputes harder to resolve.
A fight over whether a class action applicant must fork over security for costs is not a matter of the strength of the case, says a judge presiding over a class action brought by superannuation holders against Commonwealth Bank of Australia and subsidiaries Colonial First State and Avanteos.
Last-mile logistics software company GetSwift has ceased trading on the ASX after its relocation to Canada got the greenlight by the Federal Court and FIRB despite the company facing ongoing litigation in Australia.
Law firm Slater & Gordon has brought a class action against ANZ alleging former subsidiary OnePath Custodians breached its duties as a trustee of superannuation funds by slugging members with excessive fees to pay commissions to financial advisers.
Major fertility clinic Monash IVF has been hit with a class action on behalf of at least 100 men and women demanding damages for the destruction of potentially viable embryos.
A lawyer for group members in a class action against Toyota is seeking aggregate damages relating to vehicle defects that allegedly had a “significant impact” on fuel consumption.
A group representing plaintiff law firm has lampooned recommendations from the government’s latest inquiry into class actions, including that the country’s continuous disclosure laws be permanently relaxed, saying they give corporations the green light to fleece consumers and mislead investors.