The judge asked to approve a settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo has sent a shot across the bow to law firms seeking to make broad confidentiality claims over the settlement, saying such claims should be kept “to a minimum” in class actions.
The Federal Court has granted a bid by plaintiffs in competing class actions against Downer EDI to transfer their cases to the Victoria Supreme Court, where a four-way contest will take place.
The High Court has dismissed a constitutional appeal by Irish insurer Zurich, clearing the way for a class action over an allegedly defective New Zealand apartment block to proceed in the NSW Supreme Court.
Walter Sofronoff KC, who led an inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial could face sanction or a probe by the ACT integrity commission after the territory’s chief minister said the former Supreme Court Justice breached his “good faith” by leaking his findings to the media.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released guidelines to help businesses avoid greenwashing and greenhushing, calling on general counsel to avoid broad terms like ‘sustainable’ and ensure businesses have research to back up green claims.
One Nation’s NSW leader Mark Latham has responded to a defamation case by Alex Greenwich by claiming his homophobic tweet was an honest opinion and improved, rather than damaged, the independent Sydney MP’s reputation.
Insurer Vero is fighting a ruling that added it to a class action against cladding manufacturer Fairview Architectural over allegedly combustible cladding.
Class actions throw up all manner of ethical conundrums, but a recent Federal Court decision has shined a light on the question of whether funders and law firms should take out loans to run class actions and whether they can charge the costs to group members.
Tax advisers and firms promoting tax avoidance could face penalties of up to $780 million, as part of a suite of reforms the government is calling “the biggest crackdown on tax adviser misconduct in Australian history”.
A class action brought on behalf of sovereign bond investors over the disclosure of climate change risks has settled with the government on terms that don’t preclude further proceedings, a court has heard.