Employee Class Actions: New claims in the flexible employment economy

The gig economy is reshaping employee class actions, with recent decisions classifying independent contractors and casual workers as employees. Historically, employee class actions were the monopoly of the union movement. But with the waning of union membership and influence, and the rise of the gig economy and large numbers of casual workers, litigation funders are […]

Aggregation in a representative proceeding – Court gives further guidance for insurers

Bank of Queensland Ltd v AIG Australia Ltd [2018] NSWSC 1689 The NSW Supreme Court recently considered the application of a “related wrongful acts” aggregation provision in the context of a representative proceeding commenced against the insured, Bank of Queensland. The Court held that the representative proceeding itself constituted one “claim” under the policy, but […]

Competing Class Actions – the Court considers how best to address the problem

With the increasing number of litigation funders and plaintiff class action law firms, the threat of multiple competing class actions in respect of the same issues and the associated increased costs are an ever increasing risk for both insurers and insureds alike.  The recent Federal Court decision of Justice Lee in Perera v GetSwift Ltd […]

Class Actions Update – Another Setback for MCI

On Monday, 12 December 2016, his Honour Justice Sifris of the Supreme Court of Victoria handed down judgment in the matter of Melbourne City Investments Pty Ltd v Myer Holdings Limited [2016] VSC 655. Click below to read a brief alert prepared by Cain Jackson and Edward O’Brien summarising the judgment and the implications for […]