Litigation as 'Core Business': Analyzing the Access to Justice and Regulatory Dimensions of Commercially Funded Class Actions in Australia

In this chapter, case studies of two securities class actions are used, the Multiplex and Aristocrat cases, to analyze the development of class action litigation in Australia, the claims for and against their contributions to facilitating access to justice, and the central place that commercial litigation funders now occupy in Australia's class action landscape. Any consideration of modern class actions in Australia must take into account the growth and impact of commercial litigation funding. Not only were commercial litigation funding issues prominent in both Multiplex and Aristocrat , but as these cases were winding their way to resolution, commercial litigation funding was emerging more broadly as a significant issue in Australia's litigation landscape. That emergence was characterized by questions about its advantages and disadvantages and how best to regulate it, and those questions are still being asked. These two cases, and especially Multiplex , played a dominant role in this evolution. This makes them an excellent lens through which to scrutinize the growth, roles, impact, and probable future of commercial litigation funding of class actions in Australia.