The High Court has rejected a request to stay the main Mariana Dam proceedings against BHP following a high-profile dispute over which firm should represent the claimants.
The decision, made on the papers by Mr Justice Constable, follows a tussle between Pogust Goodhead (PG), which brought the claim against BHP to the High Court and secured a liability judgment last November, and Bailey Glasser International (BGI), which has received backing from the claimant committee to take over the case for the Stage Two proceedings when damages are due to be determined.
The request to stay the trial was brought by BGI, while PG argued that delaying the trial would risk disrupting the litigation timetable for more than 400,000 Brazilian claimants, impacted by the collapse of the Fundão Dam in Brazil.
The court order also directed that the outcome of the dispute should be determined at an expedited hearing on 5 and 6 October and rejected BGI’s calls for that hearing to be held in private. It will be heard by a judge to be assigned by the court, rather than Constable.
Constable said the October hearing will focus purely on who is representing the claimants rather than any other factors.
The tussle came to light on 31 August when a client committee representing many of the claimants said it had ended PG’s retainer in favour of BGI, where key members of the PG team that advised on the claim in its earlier stages are now based.
Constable received representations from the claimants and HSF Kramer, which is representing the defendants. He confirmed that the litigation will proceed under its existing timetable towards the Stage Two trial, scheduled for April 2027. He allowed for any necessary extensions to the timetable to be addressed through case management applications rather than via a halt to the proceedings.
Alicia Alinia, chief executive officer of Pogust Goodhead, said: “Today’s ruling is an important win for our clients. The court has rejected any attempt to delay this litigation and confirmed that the timetable towards justice remains intact. After almost 11 years, our clients deserve clarity, not delay, and this decision ensures that the question of representation will be resolved quickly and in public, exactly as it should be.”
HSF Kramer, which replaced Slaughter and May last year, and Humphries Kerstetter were contacted for comment.
The case continues.
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