The Facts The plaintiffs in two separate class actions (Fox v Westpac Banking Corporation & Anor (Fox) and Crawford v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd & Ors (Crawford)) sought GCOs from the court pursuant to the...more
The Situation: Australia has become a hot spot for class actions fueled in large part by litigation funders, who have operated for many years in a largely unregulated market and have derived spectacular returns from their...more
The Situation: Following a boom in class actions backed by litigation funders, the Australian Federal Government has introduced new regulations which classify litigation funding schemes as "managed investment schemes" and...more
The Background: The competing class actions, particularly in relation to shareholder claims, have increased in Australia due to the incentives in the Australian legal market, namely minimal regulation of litigation funding...more
A number of Federal Court of Australia judgments in the first half of 2018 have adopted or raised reforms to the mandatory approval process for class action settlements. The reforms mean that the class action settlement...more
The Background: The defendant was faced with two "open" class actions (i.e. including all putative group members) in relation to the same allegations.
The Issue: The defendant sought a court order permanently staying...more