Last month, law firm Phi Finney McDonald and funder Therium Capital Management bested the competition in their bid to become class counsel in the GetSwift class action claim. The landmark decision by an Australian Federal Court to continue one proceeding and permanently stay the other two is seen as a harbinger of things to come, as Australia grapples with a boom in class actions, and lawmakers debate how best to modify the country’s legal framework accordingly.
This article takes a look at how exactly Phi Finney and Therium won the right to continue their action, and how the decision could impact the Australian class action landscape including the funders who operate there.
As Lexology reports, the underlying case involves an 80% price drop in shares of GetSwift Ltd., an Australian software developer. In the wake of that sudden and sharp decline, three separate law firms – each partnered with a litigation funder – filed a shareholder class action alleging a breach of continuous disclosure obligations by GetSwift.