Australia News

Centro Retail Australia (CRF), formed from the mall manager’s reorganization, had the biggest gain in more than four months in Sydney trading after agreeing to a A$200 million ($201 million) settlement in a shareholder suit.

Third-party funder Harbour Litigation Funding has raised £120m to plough into commercial litigation cases while its market rival Vannin Capital has quadrupled its annual litigation fund from £25m to £100m to meet growing demand.

The British government's decision to introduce US-style contingency fees has triggered a push for Australian lawyers to be given the same right to take a proportion of what their clients win in court.

Corporate governance professionals have backed the regulator's call for stiffer penalties when companies fail to keep investors informed of profit downgrades.  The calls follow a $300,000 penalty levied on construction giant Leighton on Friday for keeping knowledge of a $900 million hole in its books from investors for a month.

A leading American legal advocate has warned Australian lawmakers that litigation funders are not interested in access to justice.   Lisa Rickard, the vice president of the US Chamber of Commerce and president of the US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), was visiting Australia this week. She told Lawyers Weekly that while lawyers are concerned to act in the best interests of their clients, litigation funders don’t share the same concerns about access to justice.

American companies should be able to side-step the Australian legal system in the event of certain legal disputes a US business lobby says.  The US Chamber of Commerce wants US-domiciled companies to have the option of dealing with legal issues in courts outside Australia under the rules being hammered out for a new Pacific-wide trade agreement.

Since Australia’s high court in 2006 gave litigation funding its stamp of approval, the industry has grown significantly.  In a new report sponsored by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, an Australian law professor takes a look at how the practice — where businesses invest in high-stakes legal disputes, sharing the risks and potential rewards — creates conflicts of interest.

Merck & Co.’s Australian unit won a bid to overturn the first trial decision outside the U.S. that said the drugmaker failed to warn of heart risks associated with its painkiller Vioxx.