Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
It has been precisely three and a half years since solicitors, representing lead plaintiffs in class actions filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, have been allowed to be remunerated on an American-style contingency fee basis, pursuant to a court order called a Group Costs Order. The purpose of this report is to provide some empirical data on the operation of this ground-breaking regime to date. Data, as at the end of 2023, will also be provided with respect to funding commissions in Australian class actions, settled pursuant to judicially-approved agreements, and the country’s largest class action settlements.

Morabito, Vince, Group Costs Orders and Funding Commissions (January 19, 2024).