Class and mass claims challenges by Freshfields: Exploring jurisdiction and sector risks and trends

Following Freshfields webinar to our members on “Mass Claims: recent developments and implications for businesses”, Freshfields has developed a webinar series, blogposts and podcasts examining key aspects and latest developments in the area of class and mass claims challenges.

• Comparing the EU’s Representative Actions Directive to US class action procedures (freshfields.com)
  This fifth blog in our series examining the EU Representative Actions Directive ("the Directive") considers how lawsuits proceeding pursuant to the Directive might compare to class action litigation in the US.

• The EU Representative Actions Directive: settlement (freshfields.com)
  This fourth blog post in our series examining the options open to member states when implementing the Representative Actions Directive ('the Directive') looks at settlement of representative actions. The topic is particularly important in mass claims, where so many people may be affected by the outcome and where a defendant may be reluctant to settle, unless it can be sure that the settlement will bring an end to the litigation as a whole.

• The EU Representative Actions Directive: evidence (freshfields.com)
  In this third blog of our series on the choices EU member states must make when implementing the Representative Actions Directive ('the Directive'), we focus on the Directive’s provisions regarding evidence and its disclosure. These provisions seek to address supposed informational asymmetries between the consumer associations and other qualified entities that will bring representative actions and the businesses they will sue.
  
  
• The EU Representative Actions Directive: the funding and financial aspects (freshfields.com)
  The first blog post in this series exploring the choices open to EU member states implementing the Representative Actions Directive ('the Directive') covered qualified entities (QEs), the criteria to start an admissible claim and whether member states will introduce ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’ mechanisms. As explained in that blog, the Directive requires QEs to bring the consumer mass claims. In this second blog post, we examine how QEs may be funded, financial issues relating to claims and the associated ‘loser-pays’ provisions.
  
  
• The EU representative Actions Directive : what to expect from member states (Freshfields.com)
  In November 2020, the Representative Actions Directive ('the Directive') was formally approved by the European Parliament. The new regime, once it forms part of member states’ law, will enable consumer organisations, regulators and other 'qualified entities' (QEs) to commence representative actions on behalf of consumers. Member states have two years to implement the Directive. The Directive only sets minimum standards, which means that in most cases member states are able to decide for themselves how to shape or set up a collective redress system. In turn, this may affect how attractive a jurisdiction is in which to seek such redress. In this and following blog posts, we will explore the choices to be made by member states, focusing on Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain. We start by examining three core issues that member states will have to address, and which will make a big difference to how the new regime works in practice: (i) the criteria QEs have to meet; (ii) when a claim will be admissible; and (iii) whether consumers can opt in or out of proceedings.

Podcasts :

Mass claims – the European perspective: recent developments and future implications for businesses | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields partners Nathalie Colin, Dimitri Lecat, Sabine Prossinger, Patrick Schroeder and Jeroen van Hezewijk summarise our webinar on mass claims in Europe, which is part of our global webinar series on class and mass claims challenges, and answer additional questions we didn't have time to cover during the event.

Globalisation of antitrust mass claims | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Julie Elmer, Natalia Gomez, Roman Mallmann and Mark Sansom focus on the mechanisms for controlling mass claims including class certification from our recent webinar on “Globalisation of antitrust mass claims”, which is part of our global webinar series on class and mass claims challenges.

Essential Antitrust #11: Deal disputes: preparing for a more litigious environment | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

In 2021, evolving market conditions, including heightened regulatory risk, emergence of new theories of harm, and the continuing economic impact of COVID-19 could alter transaction dynamics and contribute to more – and more contentious – transaction-related antitrust litigation, both with authorities and between merging parties. In this episode, Jenn Mellott speaks with Linda Martin, Martin Klusmann and Nicholas Frey about how companies can mitigate litigation risk in their transactions with the right transactional toolkit.