In brief - Partner Michael Russell, head of our Class Actions
team, shares his view on class action litigation risks for
businesses and their insurers resulting from the coronavirus
pandemic
Class actions are made for a crisis, and whilst COVID-19 will be
no different, the sheer size and scale of the unfolding disaster
here in Australia will likely result in very substantial class
action litigation across many heavily impacted industries and
groups for years to come. These include travel, employers,
financial markets, retail and government, with potential for the
technology and medical sectors to be impacted as well.
Class actions for a crisis
Over the past two decades we have seen class action litigation
as an almost automatic response to a crisis. Prime examples include
the global financial crisis (GFC), Victorian bushfires, Queensland
floods, NSW bushfires, and various crisis-level corporate collapses
such as HIH and One.Tel.
