A Class Half Full

This episode dives more fully into the murky waters of post-Brewster common fund orders and looks at the alternative of an expense sharing order.

Up until late 2019 common fund orders had developed as a convenient way for a litigation funder could determine and lock-in the likely return on any funding provided. They spread legal costs and funding commission in a pro-rata way across all class members. However things changed in late 2019 with the High Court's decision in Brewster. This episode explores how common fund orders developed and what changed with Brewster.

In this episode of A Class Half Full, Douglas Campbell speaks with Justin McDonnell, senior consultant at King & Wood Mallesons, who reflects on his experience acting for Defendants in a number of high profile class actions including the Brisbane Floods class action and his thoughts on where class actions may be heading.

Everybody hates a class action where the only beneficiaries are the lawyers. In this episode, Douglas discusses class action settlements that only benefit the lawyers involved, and there is nothing left over for the claimants. 

Douglas discusses the implications for class actions following the decision of Justice Lee in the ongoing Matheson Property Group matter to make an order for discovery of a party's insurance policies. 

Today, Blair Hall interviews Jerry Tucker, an associate at Bottoms English Lawyers in Cairns. Ms Tucker essentially ran Australia's largest class action - the Stolen Wages class action - and in this episode explains what it was like to be involved in a case of that scale. 

Douglas continues his discussion of contradictors. 

In this episode, Douglas Campbell discusses the role of court-appointed contradictors in the class action process. Contradictors are typically barristers who provide their opinion on whether or not a proposed settlement is fair and reasonable in the circumstances. 

In this episode, Douglas Campbell QC discusses various problems with opt-out notices, such as opting out after the time limit has elapsed, and who should get the notice in the first place. 

Today, Douglas discusses the requirements for an opt-out notice.