Class Actions

Construction giant Lendlease has filed its defence in one of two shareholder class actions filed against it, saying any losses investors allegedly suffered were wholly or partly due to their own failure to take reasonable care.

The plaintiffs in The Cosmetic Institute class action over allegedly botched breast implants will argue a former director of the company was the mastermind behind the ‘one size fits all’ business model, after the business went into liquidation and stopped participating in litigation.

An appeals court has found insurers AIG Australia and Catlin Australia have to cover part of a $6 million settlement agreed to by Bank of Queensland last year in a class action brought by investors in a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme by jailed fraudster Bradley Sherwin.

A judge has signed off on the walkaway settlement reached in one of four St Patrick’s Day bushfire class actions filed by Maddens Lawyers, noting that the plaintiff faced a “very real risk of not succeeding” in some of its primary claims.

The judge overseeing three competing shareholder class actions brought against RCR Tomlinson has refused to entertain a beauty contest, instead deciding to consolidate the proceedings whether the parties “agree or not”.

Notwithstanding a recent increase in competing shareholder class actions, on the whole, competing class actions have remained unusual, and courts have demonstrated that they are well equipped to apply appropriate considerations and principles on a case by case basis, employing a range of case management tools to ensure justice is done without the need for legislative intervention, writes Slater & Gordon class action associate Victoria Sparks.

A judge on Friday asked the corporate regulator why it delayed action against former Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou and CFO Bradley Hingle until two years' after the consumer watchdog brought its case against the pair.

The applicants in the Radio Rentals class action have won access to the company’s excess layer insurance policies, amid concerns that group members’ losses from the allegedly misleading ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ program could surpass $100 million.

A judge has warned the parties in The Cosmetic Institute class action over allegedly botched breast implants to ensure group members’ rights are prioritised, following a push for an early class closure amid doctor-patient confidentiality concerns.

The Supreme Court of Victoria has signed off on a $1.2 million settlement of a class action brought on behalf of hundreds of residents and businesses that allegedly suffered loss or injury in a 2017 fire at the Coolaroo recycling plant in Victoria.