RiverCity class action

Maurice Blackburn made final payments to group members in the RiverCity class action on 4 November 2016.  The RiverCity class action has now concluded.

Settlement of the Rivercity class action

Maurice Blackburn’s clients who invested in Brisbane’s Clem7 road tunnel secured an important settlement of $121 million in the RiverCity class action (Hopkins v AECOM and two others).

The action was commenced on 31 May 2012 in the Federal Court of Australia. The claim alleged that investors suffered loss as a result of misleading traffic forecasts for the Clem7 tunnel. The RiverCity companies were behind the ill-fated Clem7 tunnel in Brisbane and AECOM Australia did the traffic forecasts for the tunnel, which has carried on average less than 25% of forecast traffic volumes since it opened in 2010.

The costs inclusive settlement of $121 million was secured on a “no admissions” basis.

 On 5 July 2016 Maurice Blackburn sent all clients a Settlement Notice as approved by the Court on 30 June 2016. The Court approved the settlement and the Settlement Distribution Scheme on 10 August 2016. Honour Justice Nicholas opined:

The proceeding raised many complex factual and legal issues including issues related to the highly specialised field of traffic forecasting. The work involved in preparing and responding to evidence directed to those issues was immense. The various cross-claims filed by AECOM raised many other factual and legal issues and made the proceeding much more complex than it would otherwise have been.

Group members of the class action

Group members were defined as those who acquired an interest in stapled units in the RiverCity Motorway Investment Trust and the RiverCity Motorway Holding Trust on the Allotment Date on or about 4 August 2006; suffered loss or damage because of the conduct of AECOM and others; and had entered into a litigation funding agreement with IMF Bentham by 27 July 2012.