A judge has found that the law firm behind a plethora of pelvic mesh lawsuits filed in multiple courts should be personally hit with costs for its “keystone cop-like conduct” in handling the proceedings, but has given the firm a week to convince him otherwise.
Seven car makers defending class actions over defective Takata airbags have confirmed they will not be challenging a landmark decision that set aside a pre-settlement class closure order in the cases.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission maintains its $75 million settlement agreement with Volkswagen over the emissions cheating scandal was “appropriate”, as VW progresses its appeal of the $125 million penalty imposed by a judge who called the ACCC agreement “manifestly inadequate”.
A judge has declassed one of three class actions against Monsanto over its allegedly cancer-causing weedkiller and chosen the proceedings brought by heavyweight plaintiff-firm Maurice Blackburn to go first, while seeking to appease the competing firm’s fear of being “swallowed” by a larger rival.
The top judge of the Federal Court plans to clear the schedules of three judges at the start of next year so they can hear and decide Johnson & Johnson’s challenge of a class action ruling that found its pelvic mesh devices were defective and awarded the lead applicants $2.6 million in damages.
An appeals court has overturned a ruling ordering class closure in seven representative proceedings against car makers over defective Takata airbags, finding courts do not have the power to make class closure orders.
Fresh off the back of a $212.5 million settlement in three class actions over the Defence Department’s use of fire-fighting foam, Shine Laywers has launched another class action over the toxic chemical on behalf of 40,000 residents across Australia.
Two gynaecologists have lost their bid to dismiss a negligence lawsuit brought by a patient implanted with a Johnson & Johnson pelvic mesh device found by a judge overseeing a related class action to have been defective.
Johnson & Johnson has appealed a ruling awarding the three lead applicants in a class action over its pelvic mesh products a combined $2.6 million in damages, after a judge found the company failed to adequately warn women of the implants’ risks.
The makers or popular opioid drugs like OxyContin and Fentanyl may face a class action in Australia by consumers who allege they suffered financial loss from the addictive drugs.