This month’s decision by the Queensland Supreme Court confirming the validity of the class action funding business model in jurisdictions whose legislatures have not abolished the tort of maintenance and champerty is a landmark one, writes Piper Alderman partners Greg Whyte and Lillian Rizio.
A major property development CEO accused of paying his Filipino nanny $2.33 an hour has denied underpayment allegations, instead claiming the woman was a “guest of the family” who was “free to decide” whether or not she wished to provide domestic assistance.
The judge overseeing competing employment class actions on behalf of casual coal miners against WorkPac has ordered the law firms running the cases to consider a proposal to jointly run the proceedings.
A judge has appointed provisional liquidators to ‘Diamond Joe’ Gutnick’s mining company Merlin Diamonds, after finding evidence of “serious mismanagement” and citing an urgent need to investigate the company’s books.
Three syndicates of Lloyd’s London have failed in their bid to toss a case brought by National Australia Bank seeking £357 million ($655 million) in insurance claims relating to two consumer redress schemes in the UK.
A former BlueScope global health and safety manager wants to add an indirect gender discrimination claim to his employment case against the steel giant, alleging he was overlooked for a senior role because the company wanted to fill its diversity quota.
The ACCC’s recommended changes to the merger review framework that would require regulators to weigh whether a proposed acquisiton involved a potential competitor was a message to judges to rethink how they approached merger cases, the head of the watchdog said Monday.
Volkswagen is nearing the end of the road in the dieselgate scandal in Australia, as the car company agrees to an in-principle resoltion of enforcement action by the ACCC while also finalising the details of the settlement of five class actions worth up to $127 million.
The Queensland law firm at the centre of a class action over legal fees wants the case thrown out as an abuse of process, after it was revealed that the lead plaintiff apparently sold her litigation rights to a litigation funder, whose sole director is married to the solicitor who filed the action.
US prenatal genetic test maker Ariosa Diagnostics has won its bid to appeal a ruling that its Harmony test infringed a patent owned by rival Sequenom.