A judge has declined to put a Maurice Blackburn-led class action against AMP on hold while the High Court decides whether to overturn a ruling awarding the firm carriage of the matter following a high-stakes battle against three other law firms.
A closely watched shareholder class action against Myer over an inflated profit forecast from former CEO Bernie Brookes has been dropped, after a court found the retail giant misled shareholders but that they suffered no harm.
Treasury Wine Estates is facing the threat of multiple shareholder class actions in the US over a January 2020 profit downgrade that is already at the centre of two class actions filed in Australia.
A decision this week rejecting a proposed common fund order at the settlement approval stage of a class action against teleco Vocus has dashed the hopes of litigation funders that a recent High Court ruling would not foreclose on judges using discretion at the end of a case and will cement a return to bookbuilding and a focus on shareholder class actions by institutional investors.
A prominent silk deliberately misled a cost consultant retained to provide an opinion on the barrister’s fees to a court overseeing a class action over the collapse of Banksia Securities, then joked about it with lawyer and litigation funder Mark Elliott, a judge has been told.
A judge has declined to make a common fund order in approving a $35 million settlement in a shareholder class action against telecommunications firm Vocus Group, resulting in a reduced payout for the funders that backed the case.
Global winemaker and distributor Treasury Wine Estates has been hit with a second class action over an earnings downgrade made in January this year, setting the stage for a possible fight between the law firms leading the proceedings.
The judge presiding over the settlement approval hearing in a shareholder class action against telecommunications company Vocus Group has questioned whether the High Court’s recent ruling striking down common fund orders at the outset of class actions would allow him to make such an order at settlement.
The lead applicant in a shareholder class action against Crown Resorts is considering alternative options for examining 18 former jailed employees after an appeals court found communication with the employees was impermissible given confidentiality agreements they had with Crown.
The power of courts to choose a single winner from a contest of competing class actions is not the likely target of the High Court in taking up a challenge to last year’s beauty parade of shareholder proceedings against AMP, but the analysis behind the decision to award Maurice Blackburn the prize could face scrutiny, experts say.