Westpac has defeated a responsible lending case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in relation to almost 262,000 home loans, with the Federal Court finding the corporate regulator misinterpreted the operation of national lending laws.
Lawyerly’s inaugural class action report shows one plaintiffs firm dominating the field, running more than twice the active class actions as its nearest rivals. But a group of capable and ambitious firms are nipping at its heels.
Many commercial dispute resolution groups in Australia are getting a boost from class action defence work, as more parties get dragged into increasingly complex representative proceedings. But the Big Six firms are still the ones companies turn to the most when staring down a class action.
Eleven law firms reign supreme in the legal market for class actions in Australia, with ten or more class actions on their plates, and two firms are way ahead of the pack, according to Lawyerly’s inaugural ranking of the country’s top class action groups.
The parties in two shareholder class actions brought against online fashion retailer Surfstitch will make one “last, final attempt” to resolve the proceedings in mediation after a proposed settlement was thwarted by a judge last year, a court heard Friday.
The plaintiffs in three competing RCR Tomlinson shareholder class actions have been told to “get their act together” by the judge who forcibly consolidated their proceedings, after the parties revealed they were as yet unable to agree on joint funding terms.
Indonesian airline Garuda has failed in its bid to stay a $19 million penalty for its role in a fuel surcharge cartel after telling the Federal Court it has debts of $480 million, with a judge saying he would be allowing the company to trade while insolvent if he granted the stay.
Engineering company UGL has reached an in-principle settlement in a class action alleging it kept shareholders in the dark about problems with a $900 million contract for a power plant for the Ichthys LNG project in the Northern Territory.
A judge has promised the parties in the Sydney Opal Tower class action that the matter will be “resolved expeditiously”, despite the plaintiff’s concerns that cross-claims by the defendant and procedural timeframes will cause delays.
The Full Federal Court is set to hear appeals in four class actions in the August sitting, giving the court a chance to address important issues, including cost-capping in joint class actions and security for costs in unfunded cases. Here, we give you the run-down on each of the upcoming challenges.