The decisive action by the second largest retirement living operator, Aveo, to rebuff over six years a class action over contracts has saved the sector from immense, long-term pain. Capitulation and a settlement has now been formally approved by the Court. 

As The Source wrote in April, the capitulation by the class action lawyers Levitt Robinson in its bid to score a speculated $100 million-plus from Aveo Group, had big ramifications. 

"A class action win could have resulted in more class actions, a winding back of contract options available to residents of retirement villages and ramifications for the price exiting residents could sell at, not to mention the continued undermining of trust in the sector and impact on residents and the village workforce,” we wrote. 

In a hearing in the Federal Court last Wednesday, Judge Bernard Murphy said he would approve the settlement but reserved his decision on a dispute between the plaintiff law firm Levitt Robinson and the court-appointed contradictors who believe the law firm should not recoup $1.1 million of the settlement in "avoidable costs", Lawyerly reported.   

Lachlan Armstrong, a contradictor, said the $1.1 million could be explained by Levitt Robinson's unexplained delay” from November 2021 to July 2022 which caused the last exchange of key expert reports that influenced the decision to settle six days into the trial.  

He argues the money should be distributed among the group that stating its own actions were responsible. 

The class action was brought on a “no win, no fee” basis and was funded by US litigation funder Galactic.