Class Actions

We have acted on some of the largest class actions in Australian corporate history.

Class action activity continues to be prevalent in Australia, with relatively low thresholds to bring claims in several Australian states and nationally in the Federal Court.

Our team knows how to navigate high-value and high-profile claims.  Our focus is on outcomes, and how to reach them sooner, rather than simply going through the process.  That means early analysis of our client's risk and creative thinking—something our people excel at.

We act in class actions across all sectors, including:

• defending claims against individuals and corporate respondents
• advising primary and excess insurers on coverage
• preparing parties facing threatened class action litigation
• acting for insurers when joined directly as parties, in substitution for their insureds
• advising on settlement strategies and stakeholder engagement, including managing third-party litigation funders and advising on contingency fee regimes in Victoria and more recent reform arising from jurisprudence in the Federal Court
• monitoring defence firms, including encouraging those firms to take strategic action that best protects insured and insurer interests, and
• working with experts to quantify losses in such claims, as early as possible.

We understand that our insurer clients need up-to-date information about class actions risks and trends to make good underwriting and claims decisions.  Our team regularly brings together empirical data on class action claim trends and predictions to assist our clients keep pace in the markets in which they operate.  You can read our SparkeWatch publication here.