Watson v Maximus Holdings (NSW) Pty Ltd [2021] FCA 87

Federal Court of Australia

Watson v Maximus Holdings (NSW) Pty Ltd [2021] FCA 87 File number: NSD 919 of 2020

Judgment of: WIGNEY J

Date of judgment: 12 February 2021

Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – application for approval to discontinue representative proceeding commenced under Pt IVA of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) – whether not unfair and not unreasonable for proceeding to be discontinued – practical effect of discontinuance to return group members to the position they were in before commencement of the proceeding – discontinuance approved

Legislation: Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) ss 33C(1)(a), 33M, 33N, 33V, 33V(1), 33X, 33X(5), 33Y, 33ZE, 37M Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) rr r 26.12(4), 26.12(7) Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) s 170

Cases cited: Babscay Pty Ltd v Pitcher Partners [2020] FCA 1610 Calinoiu v QLD Law Group – A New Direction Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 2194 Carr v Commins Hendriks Pty Limited [2016] FCA 1282 Laine v Theiss Pty Ltd; Beetson v SunWater Limited [2016] VSC 689 Lopez v Star World Enterprises Pty Ltd [1999] FCA 104; ATPR 41-678 Mercedes Holdings Pty Limited v Waters (No 1) [2010] FCA 124; 77 ACSR 265 Motlap v East Coast Lawyers Pty Ltd [2019] QSC 183 Simonetta v Spotless Group Holdings Limited [2017] FCA 1071 Tate v Westpac Banking Corporation (No 2) [2020] FCA 1374 The Owners – Strata Plan No 87231 v 3A Composites GmbH (No 3) [2020] FCA 748 Watson v Schreuder Partners Lawyers [2020] FCA 1044 Wotton v State of Queensland [2009] FCA 758; 109 ALD 534