The Full Court is set to examine whether the Federal Court has the power to make class closure orders prior to mediation, weighing on one of the biggest unanswered questions vexing the class action regime.
The structural engineer behind Sydney’s ill-fated Opal Tower can examine whether builder Icon Co has been indemnified for $31 million worth of damage which occurred in the 36-storey apartment block on Christmas Eve of 2018, a court has found.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has taken supermarket giant Coles to court for allegedly underpaying more than 7,800 staff members $115 million over three years.
Two landmark class actions seeking damages from the Victorian government for economic losses suffered during last year’s second wave of COVID-19 have been thrown out, but one of the cases will be given a second chance to proceed.
Saying the funding arrangement would eliminate the possibility that legal costs ate up the majority of any return to group members, a judge overseeing a shareholder case against G8 Education has issued the first ever group costs order in a class action.
Fearing passage of a contentious bill in parliament that threatens to curb open class actions, plaintiffs law firms and funders have raced to court with new cases in the past two weeks.
Spurred by the Banksia class action scandal, the federal government has implemented new regulations requiring litigation funders to manage conflicts of interest that arise when the lawyers acting on a class action have a “material financial interest” in the funder that’s running it.
Two law firms are seeking court approval to drop class actions brought on behalf of allegedly misclassified casual coal miners, in light of a High Court decision that “radically” decreased their chances of success.
The federal government is facing a class action over alleged biosecurity breaches that led to the 2016 outbreak of white spot disease in South-East Queensland, which decimated the region’s commercial prawn industry.
Professional services giant PricewaterhouseCoopers has hit back at a class action over a $50 million prospectus for Axsesstoday, filing a cross-claim against the asset finance lender and saying it “takes no responsibility” for allegedly defective offer documents.