National Australia Bank has rejected a class action’s claims that it pushed worthless credit card insurance onto its customers, saying it was up to the customers to determine the true value of the coverage.
The cracks that led to the evacuation of Sydney’s Opal Tower and threats of litigation have been blamed on design and construction issues, but the building is structurally sound and not in danger of collapse, according to an interim report commissioned by the NSW Government.
The ACCC does not need to prove Volkswagen knew about the diesel emissions software at the heart of its action against the car giant — that’s just a factor that will magnify penalties in the case, the regulator has told a court.
Australia’s four biggest lenders had an expensive year in court last year, but with cases spilling over into the new year and the fallout from the Royal Commission expected to see a litigation blitz by regulators and class action lawyers, much more is in store for the banks in 2019. Here, Lawyerly takes a look at the court cases facing ANZ Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp so far this year.
From a record-setting funder’s cut to the first call for ‘“proportionality”, last year saw a number of groundbreaking judgments approving class action settlements worth more than half a billion dollars. Here are the 10 biggest settlements of 2018, and the law firms and funders that negotiated them.
Two law firms have launched formal investigations into possible class actions over Sydney’s defective Opal Tower, inviting owners of units in the “crumbling” building to register their interest in joining legal proceedings.
The families of asylum seekers who died in the 2010 Christmas Island boat crash have lost an appeal of a ruling that dismissed their class action against Australia.
The applicants in a class action over exposure to allegedly toxic foam used on a government military base have struck back at the Commonwealth of Australia’s argument that their claims were filed too late.
A judge has dispensed with the opt out notice requirement in two class actions filed in administration proceedings related to the spectacular collapse of HIH Insurance.
A judge who signed off on a contested $36.5 million settlement to resolve a $1 billion class action against Slater & Gordon has explained his reasons a year later, saying the “unusual” deal flowed from the law firm’s “dire financial situation”.