The class members in the Gladstone Fisheries class action and their funder LCM Operations have successfully upheld in the Court of Appeal a declaration confirming the enforceability of the funding agreements in the case. This is an important decision, which validates the third party funding of class actions and puts to bed any residual arguments regarding the continuing effect of the medieval torts of maintenance and champerty on class action funding arrangements, says Susanna Taylor, LCM’s head of investment, APAC.
Two class actions on behalf of 7-Eleven franchisees plan to expand their case against the convenience store chain by adding new allegations of systemic unconscionable conduct.
A McDonald’s franchisee has been ordered to pay $82,000 in penalties for systemically denying workers drink and toilet breaks and misleading them about their break entitlements, providing fuel for a class action investigation into the US fast food chain for allegedly denying workers rest breaks.
A judge said Friday that a bid by last-mile logistics software firm GetSwift to relocate to Canada as it faces a potential $20 million civil penalty from ASIC and a $50 million class action was “not a good look”.
Last-mile logistics software firm GetSwift has offered a last minute undertaking that it will be covered for any judgments and penalties in a class action and ASIC case, after a judge expressed concerns about the company’s bid to redomicile to Canada amid the ongoing litigation.
A second class action has been filed against insurance giant Allianz seeking compensation for consumers alleged to have been ripped off by “worthless” add-on car insurance.
The group providing funding to claimants in a class action against the federal government over its 2011 ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia does not have to comply with new rules requiring litigation funders to obtain an AFSL and operate as a managed investment scheme in order to sign up new group members.
That a first filed case should be the presumptive winner in a competition between class actions seemed a losing argument before the High Court on Tuesday as the justices weighed a challenge to a ruling picking one among a group of class actions against AMP, but the court also appeared skeptical of the power to hold wide ranging inquiries into the merits of competing cases.
One Nation leader and senator Pauline Hanson will seek amendments to the government’s proposed class action reforms by permitting third party litigation funders to bring claims without a financial services licence if they can guarantee that at least 70 per cent of returns will go to group members.
A contractual dispute between a litigation funder and the lead applicant in a class action against S&P will not prevent the class action from progressing, with both parties giving undertakings to preserve the status quo while the feud remains on foot.