More than a decade after the High Court ruled that third parties could finance legal proceedings in Australia, the court has issued another game changing decision that puts limits on what judges will do to help a litigation funder out. Here, Lawyerly gives you a quick guide to the key takeaways from Wednesday’s judgment.
Judges have no power to order all class action members to pay a proportion of a litigation funder’s commission out of their share of a settlement, the High Court has ruled in a landmark judgment that deals a huge defeat to litigation funders.
Fast food giant Domino’s has denied allegations that it violated consumer law with the representations it made to franchisees about the agreements its workers were covered under, saying it was only giving franchisees its opinion.
The close relationship between regulator action over corporate wrongdoing and private enforcement is an established and powerful means of recovering compensation for victims of corporate misconduct. Increased cooperation between regulators and litigants in class actions would remove a number of substantial barriers to private enforcement action, writes Slater and Gordon lawyer Caitlin Baker.
Clive Palmer and associated companies have been accused of unconscionable conduct and “moral obloquy” in a new $37.4 million class action by timeshare members of the billionaire’s now abandoned Palmer Coolum Resort.
A judge on Tuesday questioned how elderly group members struggling with the digital age can register in a ‘junk’ insurance class action against National Australia Bank, amid the postponement of hearing to approve the $49.5 million settlement reached in the case.
A judge has rejected a proposal to jointly hear argument for approval of settlements in two class actions against milk supplier Murray Goulburn, saying the issues in one case — led by the legal team under scrutiny for alleged professional misconduct in a separate class action — could be more complicated.
The High Court is poised this week to issue its judgment in a case challenging the validity of common fund orders in class actions, a ruling that could see litigation funding commission rates creep back up after hitting record lows.
Funder IMF Bentham expects to bring in up to $130 million in income for backing the Queensland floods class action, after a judge ruled last week that the operator of two dams as well as the state government were responsible for the severity of the flooding that hit Southeast Queensland in 2011.
Woolworths is facing a class action alleging it underpaid workers to the tune of $620 million, more than double what the supermarket giant estimated when it disclosed the underpayments scandal last month.