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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016
Residents asked to pay $800 bond if they want review. If they lose, they must pay $3000 to law firm.
● Dr Katherine Rowe, Lead Plaintiff, with Brooke Dellavedova, Principal, Class Actions, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, announce a settlement, 18 months ago
‘We fight for ourselves’ COMMENT
Some Kinglake class action members received a letter from the lawyers, saying that their personal injury/dependancy compensation had been assessed. Victims were told if they were dissatisfied with the amount, and if they wanted to dispute the amount, they needed to request a review by last Friday (June 3). Those wanting a review were required to lodge a bond of $800 with the Scheme Administrator within 14 days of their request.
by bushfire victim Ashley Geelan
■ Black Saturday victims still wait - many desperatsly- whilst claim assesments still continue. Meanwhile law firm partners collect lucrative dividend payments from the $494 milllion settlement payment. It is now more than seven years since Black Saturday occurred and lawyers seem able to pay themselves from dividends, whilst actual victims await payment. It appears that Maurice Blackburn has plenty of time to administer dividend payments to themselves,whilst delays continue for those claiming compensation. Whilst Maurice Blackburn's senior partners have paid themselves a dividend, not one class action participant, with many now suffering extreme financial hardship, has been paid a cent. Reporter Hedley Thomas of The Weekend Australian reported on April 9 that "the richest dividend stream in Maurice Blackburn's history begun to flow to the firm's equity-owning senior partners". Meanwhile, those that actual victims who suffered through Black Saturday still wait for their dividend. As Australia's biggest class action settlement at $494 million, Maurice Blackburn must have known, or at least some idea of how complicated paying claimants would be. They didn't realise the complexity of this? The response from Maurice Blackburn was that "we didn't realise the complexity of this issue." It leave smany claimants asking how couldn't know the complexity of a case of which
■ SEVEN YEARS and four months have elapsed since the Black Saturday fires on February 7, 2009, which claimed 173 lives. Yet residents, who joined a class action undertaken on their behalf by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, say they are yet to have received a cent.
Unsuccessful
● Ashley Geelan, Kinglake bushfire survivor: awaits settlement payment they fought? Making matter matters worse is the need for those who object to their claim assesements must pay an extra $800 bond that "must be lodged with the SchemeAdminstrator." This bond, should a claimant's review be "ultimately unsuccessful you [the Black Saturday claimant] will be responsible to pay the cost of that review fixed at $3000." According to Maurice Blackburn, those people that have applied for interim payments and whose cases has been assesed are due to be discussed "within a fortnight". Let's see what happens by June 14.
“If your review is ultimately unsuccessful, you will be responsible to pay the cost of that review fixed at $3000.” The law firm, Maurice Blackburn, has come under fire after it was revealed in April by The Weekend Australian that the lawyers have already paid dividends of more than $16 million to themselves as early as 2014. Lump sums totalling $80 million are being paid to the law firm, as well as ongoing fees for the management of the scheme to determine payments to the victims, according to reporter Hedley Thomas of The Weekend Australian.
Risk warning
The law firm has warned claimants that if they seek a review of the assessment, they might receive a lesser payment. “You should also be aware that there is a risk in requesting a review that the amount of the review assessment is lower than the amount in the current Notice of Assessment. “The review assessment will be binding on you, even if it is lower than the original assessment,” says a copy of the Maurice Blackburn letter to claimants, which has been viewed by The Local Paper.
■ Maurice Blackburn Lawyers undertook two class actions after the Black Saturday bushfires. Of the Kilmore East-Kinglake Bushfire ClassAction, the law firm says: “The bushfire resulted in 119 deaths, the destruction of 1,242 homes, damage to a further 1,084 homes, and the burning of over 125,000 hectares of land. “On July 15, 2014, after a 16-month trial against SPAusNet and four other defendants, the plaintiffs and the defendants reached an agreement to settle the class action for a record settlement of more than $494 million dollars. “On December 23, 2014 the Supreme Court of Victoria approved the settlement of the Kilmore East - Kinglake Black Saturday Bushfire Class Action and the proposed settlement distribution scheme. “It is the largest class action settlement in Australian history. “The settlement distribution is of unprecedented scale and complexity. Maurice Blackburn is administering the settlement as quickly and efficiently as possible, including overseeing the assessment of the more than 10,000 individual claims registered as part of the class action.” Of the Murrindindi-Marysville Bushfire Class Action, Maurice Blackburn says: “The action alleged that the fire started at the rear of the Murrindindi Saw Mill, Wilhelmina Falls Road, Murrindindi, and that the cause of the fire was a break in a power line resulting from deficiencies in the construction and configuration of a power pole. “The fire spread rapidly, killing 40 people, destroying over 500 homes, and causing millions of dollars of damage. “The plaintiff alleged that the power utility company was negligent in, among other things, the construction and configuration of the power pole. “On February 6, 2015, the parties announced an in-principle agreement to settle the class action for the sum of $300 million dollars without admission of liability. “This settlement was reached before the trial, originally due to start on February 4, 2015, commenced. The settlement was approved on May 27, 2015 by Justice Emerton of the Supreme Court. “Now that the settlement and the proposed settlement distribution scheme have been approved, Maurice Blackburn will commence administering the settlement, including overseeing the assessment of the large number of claims registered as part of the class action.”
RALLY DECLARES: ‘WE DON’T TRUST MAYOR, CEO’ - PAGE 3