A judge overseeing the Montara oil spill class action has found the Federal Court’s broad discretion under the class action regime is “outflanked” by the need to give group members a chance to opt out. But resolving that question on Thursday — which has divided the courts — caused a further wrinkle ahead of a hearing to weigh a settlement in the case.
The lead applicant in a class action on behalf of investors who sank $12.3 million into an allegedly fraudulent sports betting scheme run by convicted conman Peter Foster may drop the case after a partner in the scheme filed for bankruptcy.
Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has been hit with a class action alleging it misled drivers over vehicles fitted with defective diesel particulate filters.
A judge has questioned a tiered contingency fee arrangement in a proposed group costs order by the law firm running a shareholder class action against Crown, asking whether the lower-end percentages were “meaningless”.
Keeping up her scrutiny of fee disclosures by Adero Law in employment class actions launched in her court, a judge has questioned whether the law firm breached its fiduciary duty to the lead applicant in litigation against Drakes Supermarkets.
A judge has ordered two law firms that filed competing shareholder class actions against failed Blue Sky Alternative Investments and auditor EY to team up to run a consolidated proceeding, despite opposition by one firm.
A judge has dismissed a class action brought against animal health giant Zoetis over alleged side effects resulting from its Hendra virus horse vaccine, finding there were “too many uncertainties” in the applicant’s evidence.
Westpac has objected to several proposed notices going out to group members in a class action over ‘junk’ consumer credit insurance, which three of the Big Four banks have agreed to pay $126 million to settle.
Already facing one Australian class action for cheating on diesel emissions tests, Toyota unit Hino is the subject of a fresh class action probe announced Tuesday.
Mercedes-Benz is the latest car maker to face a class action in Australia over alleged defeat devices designed to manipulate the results of regulatory diesel emissions testing.