HSF overview of collective damages claims in competition cases in the UK published in GCR Guide to Private Litigation (2nd ed.)

We are delighted that our overview of collective damages claims in competition cases in the UK has just been published as part of the second edition of Global Competition Review’s Guide to Private Litigation.

The Guide now includes 30 chapters written by leading practitioners, exploring in depth the key themes raised in competition litigation across the globe. We are proud to have once again contributed the chapter covering the UK, which draws on our expertise in conducting complex private antitrust litigation matters before the UK courts and providing expert strategic advice on private enforcement risks. You can access a PDF copy of the chapter here. The rest of the Guide is available on the GCR website here.

The UK has long been a forum of choice for private enforcement of competition law, collectively or otherwise, and this trend has continued over the last year. Our chapter considers the latest trends in collective or class actions and claims aggregation in the UK, and highlights some of the key issues that have arisen in recent cases. We focus in particular on the specific opt-out collective actions regime before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), looking at the types of cases in which CPOs have been sought, and the approach taken by the CAT and the Court of Appeal to both the eligibility of the claims for inclusion in collective proceedings and the suitability of the proposed class representative. This chapter was written prior to the landmark Supreme Court judgment in Merricks v Mastercard handed down on 11 December 2020, but it considers in some detail the key issues which arose in that case. Our subsequent detailed briefing on the Merricks Supreme Court judgment can be found here. Further insights into that judgment and the potential implications for the collective actions regime were also discussed as part of a HSF class actions webinar which took place on 16 December 2020, a recording of which can be accessed by registering here.

The chapter also considers trends and key issues arising in claims brought by multiple claimants via other routes available to claimants seeking to bring collective actions (i.e. joint claims by parties that are not related) in the UK, namely representative actions, group litigation orders, informal claims aggregation and joint case management before both the High Court and the CAT. Finally, we also briefly touch on the issue of settlement, which has its own dynamics in the context of collective claims, whichever of the procedural routes is originally followed when bringing the claim.

If you have any questions about any of the issues covered in this chapter please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss further.

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