Australia’s present regulatory and legal environment is characterised by heightened scrutiny of corporate conduct, creating the potential for more class action claims against corporations with significant shareholdings and diverse investment structures or those who operate in highly regulated, information-sensitive markets.

Clients receive the benefit of our team’s extensive experience in defending a wide spectrum of class action litigation. Drawing together the skills and experience of some of Australia’s leading authorities in dispute resolution, market regulation, insurance and insolvency law, we provide clients with strategic, analytical and innovative advice as well as formidable support in contentious matters.

Freehills has a dedicated team of partners and solicitors who are industry experts in class action litigation.

Freehills’ expertise in this area is underscored by the publication of Class Actions in Australia, by Freehills partners Damian Grave and Ken Adams. Class Actions in Australia is the first text to focus exclusively on class action law in Australia. It is a complete and comprehensive guide to this area of law.

Our Class Actions team is backed by:

• Australia’s premier commercial litigation practice, including specialities in product liability, competition and market regulation, corporate regulatory law and turnaround and insolvency law
• extensive experience in litigating in most industry sectors
• experience in domestic and international disputes
• experience acting for clients in a multidisciplinary environment with other professionals, and
• market-leading industry experts across Australia, Asia and internationally

We have advised and represented clients in relation to a number of Australia’s largest and most complex class action claims, including the following matters.

• We act for Centro Properties Group in defence of two shareholder class actions in the Federal Court of Australia. The class actions involve allegations that Centro breached the continuous disclosure and misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and other statutes, by failing to make certain disclosures to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) about the amount of its current interest-bearing liabilities, the difficulties it faced in refinancing certain short-term debt by its due date and the likely impact of increased financing costs on its anticipated return to investors. The litigation has been significant because they are the first shareholder class actions in Australia involving competing proceedings run by different plaintiff law firms, Slater & Gordon and Maurice Blackburn, funded by Comprehensive Legal Funding LLC (a US-based litigation funder) and Australian litigation funder IMF (Australia) Ltd respectively. This has raised for consideration a number of novel questions of law, procedure and case management in Australia. Each of the proceedings has also involved claims against Centro’s auditors.
• We act for OZ Minerals Ltd in defence of a funded shareholder class action commenced in late 2009 by Maurice Blackburn on behalf of Hobbs Anderson Investments Pty Ltd (as representative party) and certain current and former shareholders of OZ Minerals. The action is funded by IMF (Australia) Ltd. The claims relate to allegations that OZ Minerals engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and breached its continuous disclosure obligations by failing to make certain disclosures to the ASX about the amount of its current interest-bearing liabilities and its obligation to refinance certain debt under an agreement entered into in February 2008.
• We act for SP AusNet in two separate class actions arising from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. The first class action arises from the Kilmore East bushfire. Maurice Blackburn and Oldham Naidoo jointly act for the plaintiff and group members, being those people whose property was destroyed as a result of the fire. The second class action arises from the Beechworth bushfire. Maddens act for the plaintiffs and group members. There are separate individual claims pursued in connection with the Beechworth bushfire. Freehills also represented SP AusNet in the Victorian Royal Commission.
• Freehills acts for the liquidators of Timbercorp Finance Pty Ltd (in liquidation). Timbercorp Finance provided approximately 12,000 investors with finance to allow those investors to invest in Timbercorp agri-products. As at 31 May 2010, the total outstanding to Timbercorp Finance is $444 million. In the Timbercorp Class Action, the investors are challenging the enforceability of their loan agreements and other indebtedness to Timbercorp Finance.
• We are advising and acting for certain non-executive directors of ABC Learning Centres in respect of the administrators’ examinations regarding the collapse of the ABC Group. The administrators’ examinations have been funded by IMF.
• Freehills is advising and acting for certain former directors and officers of directors of Babcock & Brown Limited (in liquidation) in relation to the liquidator’s examinations regarding the collapse of the Babcock & Brown Group.
• We act for Deutsche Lufthansa AG in a high-profile class action against a number of air cargo carriers in Australia claiming damages for loss alleged to have been suffered as a result of alleged cartel conduct in respect of air freight surcharges. Maurice Blackburn act for the plaintiff and group members.
• We acted for Telstra in a shareholder class action proceeding in the Federal Court in 2006. The matter involved allegations that Telstra had breached the continuous disclosure and misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) by failing to make certain disclosures to the ASX. The litigation was significant because it was the first shareholder class action faced by Telstra and included some novel points of law which had not been previously litigated in an Australian forum. As such the case attracted a substantial media following. The Federal Court approved the settlement of the matter in December 2007.
• We acted for the voluntary administrators of Sons of Gwalia in relation to proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia to determine the question of whether a shareholder who asserts that they were induced to purchase shares in a company as a result of misleading and deceptive conduct can prove a loss on the purchase in the company’s deed of company arrangement (and whether the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) operates to postpone payment of that claim until ordinary unsecured claims are paid in full). A shareholder class action was subsequently commenced centring on allegations that Gwalia engaged in misleading conduct by failing to fully disclose its gold hedging commitments. The litigation was funded by IMF. A settlement was reached in late 2009.
• Freehills advised and acted for the directors and officers’ insurers of the HIH Group, a role which included representing the Chairman before the HIH Royal Commission, as well as other regulatory and litigation proceedings arising out of the collapse of the HIH Group. Freehills was involved in achieving a dismissal of the class action commenced against HIH (in liquidation) and certain former directors and officers of HIH.
• We acted for the Victorian State Government and its related state entities on the Longford gas explosion. This followed the explosion and fire at Esso’s Longford gas plant in September 1998, including representation at the Longford Royal Commission and related significant class action litigation. The class action, brought on behalf of various groups of users of gas in Victoria against Esso, is the largest in Australian legal history, involving claims between A$300 million and A$1.3 billion. Justice Gillard held that Esso did not owe a duty of care to avoid pure economic loss to 1.4 million Victorian gas users. The effect was that most of the claimants for the reported losses of up to A$1.4 billion failed.
  

Over the past five years, Australia has experienced an increase in the number of class action cases filed and prosecuted on behalf of groups of potential claimants. The ease with which class actions can be commenced coupled with the flexibility of the class action procedure and the availability of third party financing to pursue a class action is likely to provide a platform for further litigation in this area.

Our clients enlist Freehills because of our expert understanding of the relevant court rules and basis for which class action claims can be challenged, our solid forensic knowledge of the relevant area of law and our comprehensive understanding of the industry within which our clients operate.

Legal guides

Freehills has been recognised by the industry for our outstanding work in dispute resolution and commercial litigation:

• Asia-Pacific Legal 500, top tier ranking in Dispute Resolution 2004–2011
• Chambers Global, top tier ranking in Dispute Resolution, 2006–2008 and 2011
• Best Lawyers International, top-listed firm in Australia in Litigation, 2008–2011
• PLC Which Lawyer?, top tier ranking in Dispute Resolution, 2006–2008 and 2010

Testimonials

• ‘The outstanding litigation team is co-ordinated, pragmatic, strategic and timely.’ ‘They maintain a culture which is not about making money but rather about providing top-quality service to their clients.’ Chambers Asia Pacific 2011
• Freehills ‘combines the clever thinking of smaller firms with the depth and breadth of a very large one’ Asia Pacific Legal 500 2010/2011
• ‘The team … is praised for its strategic, results-oriented advice.’ Chambers Global 2010
• ‘They focus on the outcomes to be achieved rather than the process. They don't think one or two steps ahead—their advice is always what will happen three or four steps ahead.’ Chambers Global 2010
• The ‘exceptional’ Freehills is a ‘firm of choice’ for clients in major litigation, such as class action defence, providing ‘high levels of service, responsiveness and value.’ Asia-Pacific Legal 500 2010
• ‘excellent lawyers who always meet deadlines and are universally great to deal with.’ Chambers Global 2009 
• ‘… one of the country’s “pre-eminent litigation teams” due to its vast resources and wide-ranging experience’, Chambers Global 2008