Blue skies for solicitors’ common fund orders in the Federal Court of Australia

Ante Golem, Nataly Adams, Sam Bytheway and Michelle Zhu of HSF share that a full bench of the Australian Federal Court unanimously held that the Federal Court has the power to grant a “solicitors’ common fund order” – an order that a portion of the compensation from any settlement or judgment be used to remunerate the applicant’s lawyers for the value of their work, the expenses and outgoings they incurred and the financial risks they took – at the time of settlement or judgment.