By: Amanda Beattie and Zoe Jones At a glance At present, Victoria remains the only Australian jurisdiction where contingency arrangements are available to plaintiff law firms through the Group Costs Order (GCO) regime, but that may change in light of NSW considering reforms. We take a look at the current position in NSW, the reforms […]
We recently caught up with Amanda Beattie, Head of Class Actions at Wotton Kearney, to learn more about her story and what drives her work. Amanda has spent her career defending some of Australia’s most recognised institutions in class actions, including major banks, insurers and government departments. In this Q&A, Amanda shares what why she […]
By: Amanda Beattie, Charu Stevenson and Zoe Jones Overview In the first two articles in this series (here and here), we examined the rapid expansion of climate-related litigation globally and traced how those international developments are reshaping the Australian litigation landscape. Climate litigation is no longer confined to environmental approvals or public law challenges, but […]
By: Bill Conor and Lachlan Milligan Slater v Ecosol Pty Ltd [2026] FCA 208 At a glance On 5 March 2026, the Federal Court of Australia summarily dismissed an oppression claim brought by Mr Matthew Slater, a minority shareholder in Ecosol Pty Ltd, against the company and two of its directors, Mr Jeffrey Smith and […]
Over 1,000 class actions filed, $1.5 billion in settlements, and a landmark Robodebt settlement that made history. 2025 was a milestone year for class actions in Australia, and 2026 is shaping up to be just as consequential. Our class actions experts unpack some key developments and trend themes in their latest article – Class Actions […]
Wotton Kearny acted for the second respondent, HVG Pty Ltd – the Australian distributor of Alucobond PE and PLUS aluminium composite panels – in a Federal Court of Australia class action widely known as the “Alucobond Class Action”. Judgment was handed down today in favour of HVG and the other respondent. We are delighted with […]
By: Amanda Beattie, Jonathon Ferraro and Madeleine Wright Byrnes v Origin Energy (No 2) 2026 VSC 97 Another first for the Victorian GCO regime In a judgment delivered by Justice Waller on 11 March 2026, the Supreme Court of Victoria determined the first application to amend a Group Costs Order (GCO) pursuant to s 33ZDA(1) […]
By: Amanda Beattie, James Clohesy and Zoe Jones At a glance This is the second article in our series examining climate change litigation and forecasting emerging trends in the Australian market. Our first article surveyed the global litigation landscape and identified key themes that will shape future disputes. This article turns to Australia, outlining the […]
By: Amanda Beattie and Zoe Jones At a glance According to the Grantham Research Institute’s recent Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation: 2025 Snapshot report, in 2024 Australia was second only to the United States in terms of the number of claims made relating to climate. Litigation is inevitably a driver of climate action and […]
By: Amanda Beattie and Gavin Davies In a decision that is bound to disappoint plaintiff law firms but delight litigation funders, the High Court has quashed the Full Federal Court’s decision to allow solicitor’s CFOs in the Federal Court in the Blue Sky Class Action (see Kain v R&B Investments Pty Ltd Ernst & Young […]
