Class Actions, Litigation Funding and Access to Justice

25 Pages Posted: 13 Sep 2017

See all articles by Michael Legg

Michael Legg

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice

Date Written: July 1, 2017

Abstract

The Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC), Access to Justice — Litigation Funding and Group Proceedings Consultation Paper (July 2017) is a comprehensive review of the numerous issues that have been debated in relation to the operation of class actions in Australia, including the group proceedings regime contained in Part 4A of the Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic).

The Victorian Attorney-General and the VLRC are to be congratulated for undertaking this review as the class actions regime, with the aid of litigation funding, has become a central plank for access to justice. However, class actions are often expensive with the result that much of the access to justice achieved, usually monetary compensation, does not go to the group members who have been harmed. Instead the resources that could have been used to compensate the victims of bushfires, faulty hip implants, anti-competitive conduct or securities law violations (alleged but not proved in most cases) are lost to transaction costs. The Civil Justice System must do better and a review of class actions, legal fees and litigation funding is an important first step.

The aim of this paper is to respond to a selection of the issues raised by the VLRC consultation paper, in particular: • certification of class actions, including address multiple/concurrent class actions; • settlement criteria; • court oversight of costs and fees; • assistance for courts in providing oversight; • confidentiality of settlement amounts, legal fees and funder fees; and • forum shopping.

The hope is that by setting out responses ahead of the deadline for submissions this will encourage others to critique the responses or express agreement.

Keywords: Victorian Law Reform Commission, VLRC, Access to Justice, Litigation Funding, Group Proceedings, Class Actions, Civil Justice System

Suggested Citation

Legg, Michael, Class Actions, Litigation Funding and Access to Justice (July 1, 2017). UNSW Law Research Paper No. 17-57, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3035096

Michael Legg (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice ( email )

Kensington, New South Wales 2052
Australia

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