Australia's class-action newcomer Pogust Goodhead eyes mining, financial services
With a multi-billion dollar US backer, corporate Australia has watched Pogust Goodhead's arrival with interest, if not fear. Its head of Australia Amie Crichton says it's "time to level a massively uneven playing field" between individuals and industry.
It's only been three months since global class-action firm Pogust Goodhead (PG) set up its offices in Australia but it arrived with the country's biggest company already in its sights, leading a UK class action against BHP representing more than 700,000 individuals.
In an interview with Capital Brief, the UK-based firm's head of Australia Amie Crichton described the experience of expanding to Australian shores: "Controversial, I'll say ... but exciting as well. I think Australia hasn't seen a newcomer in this sector for a long time."
The local class action sector saw settlements top $1 billion in the 22-23 financial year, with the nature of cases changing alongside a shifting economy. And recent rollbacks on restrictions around litigation funders have provided a further boost for class-action firms (but were heavily criticised by business groups).
PG is backed by hedge fund Gramercy, which in 2023 had $10.4 billion under management, and Crichton says the firm will use "all means at our disposal to try to level a massively uneven playing field against those corporations".
