Banking royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne has recommended at least two unnamed entities face criminal charges for dishonest conduct connected to their fees for no service practices, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail or a hefty fine, or both.
An appeal before a historic joint sitting of two courts over so-called common fund orders in class actions kicked off Monday with a full bench of six judges and a packed courtroom hearing arguments by eminent barristers for BMW and Westpac that the orders are either preemptive or pointless.
Class action experts have come to the defence of boutique law firm Phi Finney McDonald as heavyweight Maurice Blackburn appeals a judge’s ruling to choose the “less experienced” firm to lead a shareholder class action against BHP Billiton.
An unprecedented joint-sitting of two appeals courts will this week hear a constitutional challenge to the power of judges to make so-called common fund orders, a challenge that could have significant ramifications for class actions even if they don’t fall foul of the ‘vibe of the thing’.
Maurice Blackburn has criticised a judge’s decision to award carriage of a massive shareholder class action against BHP over the fatal collapse of a dam at its Brazilian mine to “less experienced” firm Phi Finney McDonald, lodging what is now the second high-stakes challenge to a ruling permanently staying a competing class action.
Businesses and other class action defendants have paid in excess of $4 billion in settlements since the class action regime was introduced in Australia, and litigation funders have pocketed about $583 million, a new report reveals.
A judge has signed off on a $16.4 million settlement of a class action against Cash Converters, but not before scrapping a clause he said tied the court’s hands by making the deal conditional on the appointment of Maurice Blackburn as scheme administrator.
Generic drug maker Sun Pharma has emerged victorious in a lawsuit brought against it by Mylan relating to Sun’s plans to launch a generic version of cholesterol drug fenofibrate.
ASIC has been ordered to reveal the extent of its communications with experts that are compiling a report central to its case against AMP over alleged insurance churning by one of its former financial advisers.
Denmark-based Lundbeck cannot recover damages for the alleged infringement of its Lexapro patent by generic drug companies that it dropped its claims against, a judge has found.