High Court to resolve disagreement over class closure orders

The High Court of Australia has granted special leave to appeal from the decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Pallas v Lendlease [2024] NSWCA 83, indicating it will weigh in on the divide that has emerged between intermediate appellate courts on the question of power to make 'class closure' orders in representative proceedings.

Background

Constructive settlement discussions in 'open' class actions¹ can be difficult because the parties do not know how many group members there are, nor the asserted value of their claims. To overcome this difficulty, parties (usually respondents) sometimes seek a 'class closure' order.

Typically, such orders:

• require group members to 'register' their interest in participating in any settlement by a specified date (by providing details which help the parties to assess the value of their individual claim); and