Class actions

Recent Articles

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  30.05.2023

  England and Wales

  High Court re­jects CPR 19.8 class ac­tion, demon­strat­ing chal­lenges of mass data claims

  On 19 May the English High Court rejected an ‘opt-out’ class action brought on behalf of approximately 1.6 million people in Andrew Prismall v (1) Google UK Limited and (2) DeepMind Technologies Limited [2023] EWHC 1169 (KB).BackgroundMr Prismall brought this ‘opt-out’ claim pursuant to the ‘representative action’ mechanism set out in CPR 19.8(1) (termed CPR 19.6 prior to 6 April 2023).  The claim was brought in the tort of misuse of private information (‘MOPI’) and sought damages on a class-wide basis.  The Representative Claimant alleged...

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  08.03.2023

  United Kingdom

  The Tate Mod­ern View­ing Gal­lery Case: Im­plic­a­tions for Plan­ning

  On 1 February 2023, the Supreme Court handed down their much-awaited judgment in Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery,[1] finding that the impacts of the Tate Modern’s viewing gallery on the privacy of adjacent luxury flat owners constituted an unlawful nuisance.Five owners of luxury flats argued that overlooking by visitors to the viewing platform, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, amounted to a nuisance.[2] The claimants were unsuccessful in the High Court and Court of Appeal. However, the Supreme Court disagreed, in a significant judgment for...

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  03.03.2023

  England and Wales

  High Court ap­proves first CPR 19.6 rep­res­ent­at­ive ac­tion since Lloyd v Google

  The High Court has approved the use of the CPR 19.6 representative action mechanism in an “opt-out” class action brought by Commission Recovery (Commission Recovery Ltd v Marks & Clerk LLP and Long Acre Renewals [2023] EWHC 398). This is an important judgment, as it is the first examination of the CPR 19.6 mechanism since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Llovd v Google [2021] UKSC 50 and it indicates that the courts are willing to take a flexible and pro-claimant approach.SummaryAs explained in our Law-Now (available here), the Supreme Court judgment in Lloyd v Google lowered...

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  03.01.2023

  Czech Republic

  Czech Re­pub­lic drafts law on class ac­tions

  The Czech Ministry of Justice has just finalised the draft act on class actions, which is based on a EU Directive and promises a faster, easier, more efficient and more budget-friendly solution for consumers in disputes against entrepreneurs. The Czech Republic was obliged to implement this regulation no later than 25 December 2022, and is already behind schedule in the legislative process. According to the ministry, adopting the Draft will reduce caseloads on courts and strengthen legal certainty in court decisions. The Draft also establishes a registry of on-going class actions. The Draft includes...

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  23.12.2022

  International

  In­ter­na­tion­al Dis­putes Di­gest - 2022 Winter Edi­tion

  Welcome to the winter edition of the International Disputes Digest, our bi-annual publication that considers and analyses current trends in global dispute-resolution and their wider impact. With war raging in eastern Europe and no end to the conflict in sight, the world and the global economy continue to face complex challenges. In response to the invasion of Ukraine, Russian sanctions have impacted a world economy already suffering from supply-chain deficiencies and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic stresses have also been magnified by the decision of western countries to reduce...

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  22.07.2022

  England and Wales

  As Deep Blue Something put it – “You'll say we've got noth­ing in com­mon”

  The High Court in London has decided that a group of circa 3,500 claims for noise-induced hearing loss cannot proceed via a single claim form. Background In David Abbott & Others v Ministry of Defence [2022] EWHC 1807 (QB), Master Davidson referred to two instances in which Hugh James had unsuccessfully adopted the same approach: The first had been before the same Master in 2018 and consisted of 250 claims, referred to as the ‘Turner cohort’. The Master permitted a stay to allow for negotiated dispute resolution and subsequently amended the original case management order such that,...

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