OUR NEWS

Australian Federal Court Dismiss Volkswagen’s $95 Million Appeal In Dieselgate Scandal

April 20, 2021

The Australian federal court has dismissed Volkswagen’s appeal against their $95 million fine. The appeal was surrounding Volkswagen’s part in the Dieselgate emissions scandal.

Case history

An appeal was submitted by Volkswagen after a judgment in December 2019. The Australian federal court found that they had breached consumer laws by falsifying emissions levels.

It was concluded that Volkswagen did not disclose the existence of ‘two-mode’ software when it sought approval to supply and import tens of thousands of vehicles into Australia between 2011 and 2015.

‘Two-mode’ software enables the vehicle to be put into test mode to cheat emissions testing. In real world driving conditions, the emissions would be much higher. This same system has brought several other manufacturers into the spotlight for their part in the Dieselgate scandal.

Volkswagen was asked to pay for their part in misleading the government and drivers but, soon after the 2019 decision, they appealed.

Appeal terms

After being ordered to pay a record $95 million, VW asked for the fine to be reduced to approximately $58 million. This is the amount the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had previously suggested Volkswagen should be fined.

In a statement to Reuters, Volkswagen said they thought a fine of $58 million was ‘fair’ and would review the decision to consider their options.

Last week, their appeal was denied, and Volkswagen will now have to pay the full $95 million.

Dieselgate and My Diesel Claim

The Australian case is one of a number of ongoing cases around the globe, after it was alleged several car manufacturers fitted defeat devices in hundreds of thousands of vehicles to cheat emissions testing.

PGMBM is litigating against a number of the manufacturers alleged to be involved in the Dieselgate scandal. We are aiming to help drivers claim back up to £10,000. In the USA, billions of dollars have already been paid out in settlement agreements.

To find out more, and to join the claim, head to MyDieselClaim.com.

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PGMBM (a trading name of PGMBM Law Ltd)

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Pogust Goodhead is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and complies with the Solicitors Code of Conduct, a copy of which can be located here.

Pogust Goodhead (a trading name of PGMBM Law Ltd) SRA License Number 512898.

Pogust Goodhead is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and complies with the Solicitors Code of Conduct, a copy of which can be located here.
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NOAH WORTMAN

Director – Global Collective Redress

As Director – Global Collective Redress at Pogust Goodhead, Noah brings his extensive experience in assessing and analyzing corporate misconduct in the financial markets, as well as his commitment to finding global litigation and shareholder engagement solutions to investors across the world. He has extensive experience advocating for global investors, promoting corporate governance and investor stewardship, and implementing strategies to achieve collective redress.

Noah splits his time between Philadelphia and London with a global remit where he strives to provide access to justice for global institutional investors (including financial institutions, superannuation schemes, asset managers and owners, and sovereign wealth and pension funds) and others via engagement and litigation strategies including global shareholder litigation (class/group, opt-out/direct, and opt-in), antitrust/competition/cartel litigation, complex financial litigation, global privacy/data breach litigation, and global patent litigation.

Most recently, Noah was Senior Manager, Collective Redress at Omni Bridgeway where he worked with global institutional investors to implement litigation funding strategies to aid in exercising their shareholder rights in seeking legal redress from publicly listed companies where an alleged wrongdoing had occurred.

Previously, Noah was Managing Director, Americas and Global Head of Class Action Services for London-based Goal Group. There he was responsible for the company’s operations and strategic vision in the Americas and led the company’s worldwide initiatives in securities and antitrust class action litigation services on behalf of its global institutional investor clientele.

Before joining Goal Group, Noah served in similar roles at Stewarts Law as Director of Case Development of Investor Protection Litigation and at Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP helping global institutional investors exercise their rights to recover for their investment losses pursuant to securities laws in jurisdictions around the world.

Noah is a frequent speaker around the globe on the topic of shareholder legal redress, recovery, rights and responsibilities. He has also been a member of several leading global institutional investor organizations and sits on the International Corporate Governance Network’s (ICGN) Global Stewardship Committee and has previously served on its former Shareholder Responsibilities Committee, the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute’s Event Advisory Board, and the Council of Institutional Investors’ Markets Advisory Council.

Noah attended Columbia University and the Albert A. List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

IAN BERG

Partner

Ian Berg serves as a Partner in the firm’s Global Securities Litigation Department, as the head of U.S. Securities Litigation. Ian is an experienced litigator who has represented institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals in U.S. securities class actions and direct actions, leading to the recovery over $4 billion in losses due to alleged fraud and misrepresentations. Ian has strong skills in all aspects of complex litigation, including developing and implementing redress strategies, leading litigation and discovery, and negotiating favorable resolutions. Ian has argued successfully before federal courts throughout the United States, including U.S. Federal District Courts and U.S. Courts of Appeal.

Ian has favorably resolved several U.S. securities class actions while serving as the Court-appointed Lead Counsel, and a number of individual direct actions while serving as the lead litigator on behalf of notable institutional investors and various types of funds. Ian also played an important role on the litigation teams prosecuting some of the largest securities fraud cases brought on behalf of investors in the United States, including the “IPO Securities Litigation” action that encompassed more than 300 companies and 50 investment banks involved in a massive scandal related to IPO practices in the early 2000s and the notorious Tyco securities fraud litigation that recovered over $3 billion for investors.

Ian’s representative cases include:

Lord Abbett Affiliated Fund, Inc., et al. v. American International Group, Inc. et al., 1:15-cv-00774-LTS (S.D.N.Y.)

General Electric Pension Trust, et al. v. American International Group, Inc. et al., 1:15-cv- 00957-LTS (S.D.N.Y.)

City of Orlando Police Pension Fund v. Page, 4:13-cv-02038-PJH (N.D. Cal.)

Pyramid Holdings, Inc. v TerraForm Global, Inc. et al, 1:16-cv-07981-PKC (S.D.N.Y.)

In re Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2672 (CRB); BRS v. Volkswagen AG, et al., 16-cv-3435 (N.D. Cal.) (“Bondholder Securities Action”)

Ian is most proud of his work educating investors about securities litigation. Towards that goal, Ian has been a speaker on various topics and has authored or co-authored the following articles: “Other People’s Money: The Unrealized Conflicts of Securities Lending” (Wall Street Lawyer, July 2010); “Why Institutional Investors Opt-Out of Securities Fraud Class Actions and Pursue Direct Individual Actions” (PLI Securities Litigation and Enforcement Institute, July 23, 2009); “Credit Rating Agencies: Out of Control and in Need of Reform” (Securities Litigation & Regulation Reporter, June 30, 2009); “Ruling Warns Funds to Follow Class Actions” (Pensions & Investments, December 8, 2008); and “The 7th Circuit Sends a Strong Message: Institutions Must Monitor Securities Class Actions Claims” (The NAPPA Report, August 2008).

Ian attended the Northwestern University School of Law and Northwestern University.

MIKE DALY

Partner

Mike Daly is the Managing Partner of Pogust Goodhead’s Philadelphia office.

Mike joined Pogust Millrood (which would later become Pogust Goodhead) in 2014. Prior to joining the firm, Mike was a healthcare litigation lawyer in a large Philadelphia-based defense firm where he represented medical facilities and healthcare professionals in civil liability cases.

At Pogust Goodhead, Mike represents individuals throughout the country in class action and mass tort claims involving consumer fraud, environmental harm, defective medical devices, and harmful pharmaceuticals. Mike spent his first several years at Pogust Goodhead serving as bellwether counsel in the Testosterone Replacement Therapy, Mentor pelvic mesh, GranuFlo dialysate, and Zofran birth injury MDLs. Mike also has managed the firm’s Roundup herbicide litigation and represents hundreds of plaintiffs in their pursuit for justice against the manufacturer of Roundup, Monsanto.

Currently, Mike is serving as lead counsel on behalf of hundreds of individuals in the Injectafer intravenous iron lawsuits pending in Philadelphia state and federal court.

Mike and his team at Pogust Goodhead commenced and have led the Injectafer lawsuits since their inception in 2018.

Mike is also heavily involved in the litigation involving certain hernia mesh products and serves as the Co-Chair of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Hernia Mesh Litigation Group. He has been appointed to leadership positions in both the Bard Davol Hernia Mesh Litigation that has been coordinated in Rhode Island state court (Plaintiff’s Steering Committee), and continues in his Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee leadership role in the Ethicon Physiomesh, Proceed, and Prolene Hernia System (PHS) multicounty litigation mass torts that involve thousands of plaintiffs injured by Ethicon’s products.

Mike also leads the firm’s efforts in the Abbott formula recall and Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) litigations, as well as the Elmiron vision loss litigation that is pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Mike’s efforts have resulted in millions of dollars in recovery for our firm’s clients.

Since our US firm’s evolution into an international law firm with offices in the US, UK, Netherlands, and Brazil, Mike is busy building products liability litigations on behalf of claimants worldwide, and often relies on the expertise and experience built during his career as a US litigator. In addition to litigating, Mike also serves as a guest speaker on mass torts and products liability matters at seminars both stateside and internationally. Mike has lectured frequently at the American Association for Justice (AAJ) conventions, Harris Martin conventions, and even internationally at a litigation conference held at Oxford University.

On a more informal note, Mike was born, raised, and educated in Pennsylvania and has spent most of his life in the greater Philadelphia region. He is a proud 2007 graduate of Penn State and 2010 graduate of the Villanova School of Law. In his ever-dwindling spare time, Mike remains an active member of Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region and a supporter of the Penn State Alumni Association. Of course, Mike’s favorite time is spent away from work with his wife, son, and dog!

JOSHUA NEUMAN

Associate

Joshua Neuman joined Pogust Millrood (now Pogust Goodhead) in 2020.

Prior to joining Pogust Goodhead, Josh was an associate at a premier defense firm in the Philadelphia area, representing medical providers in professional liability actions. Josh also represented putative classes in complex civil litigations against pharmaceutical companies.

At Pogust Goodhead, Josh represents individuals in mass tort, products liability, class action, and personal injury claims. The primary focus of these complex civil matters includes pharmaceutical drugs and devices, consumer fraud, and harmful products. Josh also represents businesses in commercial litigation matters. As an associate, Josh provides insight throughout each phase of the litigation – including the pleadings, discovery, pre-trial, and trial stages.

Josh graduated with Honors from the University of Michigan, and attended Temple University Beasley School of Law. While in Law School, Josh was President of the Jewish Law Students Association and advocated for students’ rights as a conduct board advisor. Following his first year of law school, Josh interned for Judge Angelo J. Foglietta in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and Judge Mary K. White in the Superior Court of New Jersey. He also clerked for two preeminent Philadelphia law firms, giving him the opportunity to participate in depositions, arbitrations, and settlement negotiations.

Outside of his legal practice, Josh is an active board member of the Greater Philly Hillel Network and the Brandeis Law Society. Josh is also an avid sports fan, and enjoys playing softball, football, volleyball, and golf. Josh resides in Center City Philadelphia with his wife and Boston Terrier, Ernie.

Education

• J.D., Temple University Beasley School of Law, 2016

• B.A., University of Michigan, 2013

Jurisdictions

• Pennsylvania

• New Jersey

• Michigan

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

• United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Pennsylvania Bar Association