One of the most powerful uses of litigation funding is the ability to empower employees to seek legal redress from their employers, who would otherwise be shielded by the vast resources at their disposal. As a recently-settled case in Australia demonstrates, third-party funding can be the difference between these employees being left powerless, or being compensated for their employer’s misdeeds.
An LFJ Conversation with Michael Kelley, Partner, Parker Poe
One of the most powerful uses of litigation funding is the ability to empower employees to seek legal redress from their employers, who would otherwise be shielded by the vast resources at their disposal. As a recently-settled case in Australia demonstrates, third-party funding can be the difference between these employees being left powerless, or being compensated for their employer’s misdeeds.
In a recent blog post, Omni Bridgeway detailed their recent win for employees of CoreStaff who alleged they had been misled by the firm over the terms of their employment, and that CoreStaff had breached contracts by underpaying for labour. After securing the initial settlement of A$6.4 million in November of last year, a federal court ruled that the settlement and the distribution of those rewards were reasonable.
Justice Bromwich’s ruling stated that the distribution was a fair division of the settlement, with group members receiving 41% of the total settlement, and Omni Bridgeway highlighting that some of these claimants would receive 80% of their claims. Justice Bromwich further ruled that Omni Bridgeway’s commission of 35% of the settlement was justified, given the risk taken by the firm to fund proceedings.
