The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the door to a host of potential class actions involving claims of government negligence, employment law, product liability and consumer law, one legal expert has said.
The developers behind the Governor Place residential complex in Canberra have reached a settlement in a class action by aparment owners seeking $6.3 million in GST payments on their units.
The lead applicants in two class actions against 7-Eleven are considering bringing a contempt of court motion against the convenience store giant after the Full Federal Court derailed their challenge to prior orders allowing the company to seek litigation releases from franchisees.
After almost five years of litigation, a Federal Court judge said he will approve a $127.1 million settlement of five class actions against Volkswagen over the diesel emissions scandal, but appeared unwilling to sign off on a 25 per cent uplift in fees sought by one of the plaintiffs firms.
The litigation funder controlled by recently deceased class action lawyer Mark Elliott has lost its bid for a 12.5 per cent commission of a $5.5 million settlement secured by the special purpose receivers of Banksia Securities in its claim against the collapsed firm’s former insurance broker.
The judge overseeing the $212.5 million settlement in three toxic foam class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia has been told of at least one objection to the deal and has flagged difficulties taking submissions from opposing group members at an upcoming approval hearing.
The hunt for the missing Blackberry of deceased class action lawyer and funder Mark Elliott is over, and the located phone will now be examined by IT experts to see if it can be searched for potential evidence to be used as part of an investigation of alleged professional misconduct by the legal team behind a class action against failed Banksia Securities.
Princess Cruises and the Federal Government could face negligence claims — and a possible class action — by passengers of the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which docked in Sydney last Thursday and allowed dozens of people infected with COVID-19 to disembark.
Group members in two settled class actions against clothing retailer Surfstitch have been told the settlement amount available to them has plummeted amid a “very difficult retail environment”.
Construction giant Boral is facing a shareholder class action for allegedly failing to disclose financial irregularities in its US windows business.