Disputes and Class Actions
Consumer and retail businesses face a wide spectrum of disputes, from regulatory investigations and product safety litigation, to funded class actions involving thousands of claimants. We act for clients in private competition and consumer proceedings, and are recognised as one of Australia's leading class action defence firms.
Private litigation in competition and consumer matters continues to grow, particularly in areas such as misleading conduct, product liability, pricing practices, market conduct and misuse of market power. We have a strong track record of achieving successful outcomes whether acting for applicants pursuing claims or defending complex representative actions.
Australia has one of the most mature and active class action regimes outside North America. Consumer-facing businesses are frequent targets for funded representative proceedings relating to product defects, misleading conduct, pricing practices and competition issues. We have been at the forefront of class action defence in Australia for almost 30 years, acting in many seminal proceedings and contributing to the development of Australian class action jurisprudence.
Successful outcomes in this area require more than legal expertise. They demand strategic insight into litigation funding dynamics, settlement strategy, regulatory overlap and reputational management. You'll work with a team that focuses on your legal, commercial and reputational objectives - developing bespoke defence strategies that achieve practical outcomes, not just technically correct positions.
Our experience includes:
Private competition and consumer litigation (applicant and respondent)
Product liability class actions
Consumer and misleading conduct claims
Competition and cartel damages actions
Regulatory investigations and follow-on litigation
Early risk assessment and procedural challenges
Multi-jurisdictional and cross-border proceedings
Settlement design and remediation frameworks
Our approach integrates litigation strategy with regulatory engagement and reputational risk management to deliver outcomes that are legally robust and commercially sound.
Experience
Bayer
Acted for Bayer in a complex class action trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria concerning the Essure contraceptive device. The 12-week trial addressed common liability issues central to the proceeding. In December 2024, the Court delivered judgment wholly in Bayer’s favour, dismissing the representative plaintiff’s claim and determining the common questions on liability in Bayer’s favour - a rare complete defence outcome in Australian class action litigation.
Jaguar Land Rover
Defending Jaguar Land Rover Australia in the Australian class action seeking compensation on behalf of consumers, who acquired Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles with allegedly defective Diesel Particulate Filters.
Volkswagen Group
Acted for Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda entities in multiple class actions and ACCC regulatory proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia, in relation to Volkswagen Group's global diesel emissions issues.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Defence of representative proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia seeking substantial damages on behalf of purchasers and publishers of PlayStation video games in Australia from 2017 to 2023 alleging breach of Australian competition/antitrust laws.
Myer
Successfully defended a shareholder class action in the Federal Court involving allegations that Myer engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and contravened its continuous disclosure obligations.
Philips Healthcare
Acting for Philips Healthcare in its defence of the Australian class action in relation to certain CPAP and BiPAP devices for the treatment of sleep apnoea. We are also acting for Philips in relation to the voluntary recall as well as regulatory proceedings brought by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
Brickworks
We acted as applicant in significant anti-competitive conduct litigation against a major competitor in the building products sector, alleging predatory pricing in breach of the misuse of market power prohibition and unlawful acquisition in landmark private competition legislation.
PENDING Major National Retailer
Extensive litigation history spanning more than 20 years, including a mix of private matters, defence matters, and applicant matters across multiple sectors including groceries, fuel, liquor and discount department stores.
Optus
Acted as applicant in two successful private litigation proceedings against Telstra on behalf of Optus with respect to claims of misleading or deceptive conduct. Telstra alleged on two occasions that Optus' advertisements were misleading or deceptive - the first, "Empire's End", and the second concerning mobile phone reception black spots.
