Over the last year, Australia has charted a record-breaking year for class actions - from unprecedented settlements to landmark High Court rulings, and a record number of new filings. Gain an expert strategic view of the state of the market for class actions and a review of major decisions and their implications. Secure analysis from experienced class action experts on everything from pleadings to quantification of damages from both the plaintiff and defendant perspectives. Take away tips and traps in class action practice. To ensure that you are set to be a part of the growing number of class actions in Australia.

Presenters

Angela Pearsall, Partner, Ashurst
Angela has extensive experience in dispute resolution and is widely recognised as one of the leading litigation lawyers in Australia. She specialises in large-scale commercial litigation and class actions, as well as contentious regulatory investigations and litigation. Angela regularly handles complex litigation, having acted for global accounting and auditing firms for more than a decade. She has led litigation including class actions arising out of major corporate collapses, IPOs, capital raisings, complex financial instruments and financial services' obligations. She regularly represents banks, large corporates, preeminent global accounting and auditing firms and directors. Chambers Asia Pacific describes her as “an absolute standout" and “she's commercial, knows her field well and knows her matters inside out.“


Jason Betts, Partner, Global Co-Head of Class Actions, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Jason is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading class action, regulatory investigation and product liability specialists. He has over 25 years’ of litigation experience and has defended the largest class actions and investigations in the Australian market. He is one of the few Australian defence lawyers to have run a class action to final trial and judgment, and is the only Australian lawyer to win two shareholder class actions at trial (on behalf of Worley and Iluka). Jason also led the defence of two of Australia’s largest ever product liability class action cases, and acted for the defendant in the seminal Australian decision on third party litigation funding in Australia – Campbells Cash and Carry Pty Ltd v Fostif Pty Ltd. Jason is a Visitor to the University of Sydney Law School, teaching the post-graduate course “Class Action Litigation in Australia”. In 2022 Jason co-authored the third edition of the leading class actions text book in the country, “Class Actions in Australia”. He obtained his Master of Laws from the University of Virginia, specialising in class action defence theory.

Jeremy Zimet, Principal Lawyer, Phi Finney McDonald
Jeremy is a highly experienced litigator, with a significant track record in commercial litigation and class actions. Jeremy specialises in shareholder and consumer law class actions and has had care and conduct of more than a dozen class actions across the Federal Court and Supreme Court jurisdictions, acting for thousands of claimants in complex, multi-party disputes. Jeremy is also a media and communications law expert, who has advised and acted for high profile individuals, government ministers, directors and companies throughout Australia, on matters relating to defamation/libel, reputational risk management, pre-publication advice and privacy law.


Ian Bolster, Practice Head, Ashurst
Ian is the head of our tier 1 Australian dispute resolution and class actions practices. He has acted on some of the country's most complex and high-profile matters, and is known for being incisive, commercial, pragmatic and easy to work with. Legal 500 recognises him as a leading individual in class actions, and he is also ranked in Chambers and Partners and a leading class action lawyer in Doyle's Guide. Legal 500 describes him as "recognised as one of the country's foremost class actions specialists, praised for bringing exceptional insight into legal strategy and practice", and "an absolute standout". Chambers describes him as "an outstanding litigator who is fully engaged with his matters and delightful to deal with".


Greg Williams, Group Lead Partner, Clayton Utz
Greg Williams is an experienced practitioner with over 25 years’ experience in Australia's premier product regulatory practice. He has been involved in the defence of product liability claims and class actions involving pharmaceuticals and medical devices, financial services and automobiles. He has significant experience in running large complex matters to a contested hearing. He was a member of the team that defended the Australian Vioxx class action. He led the team which defended and ultimately settled the Australian Volkswagen diesel emissions class actions, as well as the team which defended and settled the Takata Airbag litigation against Subaru Australia. He acted for Bayer in the defence of the Australian Essure class action and was entirely successful in the first instance trial. He is currently involved in defending class actions in the automotive, medical device and financial services industries.

Katherine McCallum, Principal Lawyer, Maurice Blackburn
Katherine works on class actions in diverse areas of law, including mass torts, product liability, industrial relations, and corporations law. Her major cases have included the following. The Flex commissions class actions, brought on behalf of consumers against ANZ, Macquarie Bank, St. George, and Westpac for allegedly unfair conduct. The proceedings settled for $271.5 million. The NSW junior doctors class action, brought on behalf of junior doctors against the State of New South Wales for allegedly unpaid award entitlements. The proceeding settled for $229.8 million. The Montara oil spill class action, brought on behalf of Indonesian seaweed farmers against a petroleum company for loss caused by a major oil spill in the Timor Sea. The lead applicant succeeded at trial and the proceeding subsequently settled for $192.5 million. The DePuy knee implants class action, brought on behalf of people surgically implanted with failed prostheses against the manufacturer and distributor of those prostheses. Katherine also advises and acts for Greenpeace Australia Pacific Limited.

Jonathan Wertheim, Practice Leader – Class Actions, Shine Lawyers
Jonathan is a seasoned litigator with over 18 years of experience in complex commercial disputes and class actions. He has a particular focus on securities class actions and has been responsible for overseeing numerous cases in the Federal Court and Supreme Court of Victoria. Jonathan has been involved in some of the most high-profile matters in Australia, including three securities claims that have progressed to initial trials, including the Worley class action, which has been, and remains, the subject of appellate determination. Jonathan also has experience managing multiplicity disputes and his practice includes working in co-operation with other major firms on a number of consolidated class actions in the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Tom O’Bryan, Senior Associate, Slater and Gordon
Tom O’Bryan is an experienced Senior Associate in Slater and Gordon’s class action team. Tom is currently working on a securities class action against Ansell Ltd in the Supreme Court of Victoria. He has previously worked on the privacy class actions brought against Singtel Optus Pty Ltd & Ors and Medibank Private in the Federal Court, and on several securities class actions including against The Star Entertainment Group Ltd. Prior to joining Slater and Gordon, Tom was an Associate to the Honourable Justice Delany of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and an Associate in the Commercial Disputes team at MinterEllison in Melbourne.