In a recent decision, Federal Court Justice Jonathan Beach approved the settlement of the securities class action against Sirtex Medical. The approval included the judge making a common fund order and allowing funder IMF Bentham’s commission in the amount of $10 million, namely 25% of the gross settlement sum of $40 million. In approving the commission, Justice Beach noted that the rate should properly provide a reward for the risks undertaken by the funder, writes IMF Bentham’s Gavin Beardsell and Kate Hurford.
Electronics giant LG has been ordered to pay a $160,000 penalty after its call centre workers misled two complaining customers about their rights to replace a faulty television or get a refund under the Australian Consumer Law.
A settlement has been reached in an intellectual property lawsuit brought by famed Melbourne pub The Corner Hotel against McDonald’s alleging the fast food chain’s experimental hipster cafe in Sydney violates its “Corner” trade marks.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned it could take enforcement action if its finds banks are misleading customers about foreign exchanges fees and warned banks’ use of their compliance obligations to deny banking services to their non-bank competitors could constrain competition in the market for foreign exchange services.
A recent Federal Court decision means cooperation between courts in different international jurisdictions, which would once have been regarded as entirely novel, may now be a welcome option for liquidators to achieve a more efficient liquidation of insolvent corporate groups, writes K&L Gates’ Jason Opperman, Katherine Smith and Catherine Crawford.
Merck Sharp & Dohme has emerged victorious in a battle over documents with Wyeth, as the parties gear up for a hearing on Wyeth’s request to reopen a trial over three patents for its Prevnar 13 pneumococcal vaccine.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has brought proceedings against publicly-traded BlueScope Steel and a former general manager for allegedly engaging in “serious cartel conduct” in relation to the supply of flat steel products in Australia.
The Federal Court has partially struck out publisher Pan Macmillan Australia’s defence in a defamation case brought by Sydney identity Thomas Domican over a “fleeting reference” in a book by nightclub magnate John Ibrahim.
Actor Geoffrey Rush has come up short in his bid for an injunction blocking The Daily Telegraph from repeating allegations in the successful defamation case he brought against the publisher, with a judge citing the public interest in free speech and the lack of foundation for the actor’s concerns.
Concerns about duplicative costs in multiple class actions are better addressed by case management decisions aimed at cutting excessive expense, not by limiting the amount lawyers representing group members can spend, the Full Federal Court has said in dismissing an appeal by baby food maker Bellamy’s.