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Competition Litigation

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The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) has refused to certify an opt out class application brought by Liza Gormsen in relation to the alleged abuse of a dominant position by a social networking platform. The application signified a trend in claims pursued in the UK, in which it is argued that certain activities of dominant companies that strictly appear to be consumer or data law issues in fact constitute “unfair trading conditions” and/ or “supplementary…

Introduction In Mohr v National Hockey League, 2022 FCA 145, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) dismissed an appeal from a motion to strike a proposed class action claim. The proposed representative plaintiff alleged an anti-competitive conspiracy among professional and major junior hockey leagues. This decision is significant because the FCA confirmed that prohibitions under section 45 of the Canadian Competition Act apply to “supply side” agreements only. They do not apply to “buy…

Bucking the trend of recent certification decisions, the Competition Appeal Tribunal refused to grant an opt-out collective proceedings order in favour of either of the two competing proposed class representatives in the foreign exchange follow-on claims.[1] In a significant victory, the respondent banks succeeded in their argument that the claims brought by O’Higgins and Mr Evans should not proceed on an opt-out basis. The Tribunal has given O’Higgins and Evans three months to decide whether…

On 8 March 2022, the Competition Appeal Tribunal published its summary of the opt-out collective claim filed by Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen against Meta, in relation to alleged abuses of dominance imposed through Facebook’s terms and conditions.[1] As the 17th application for a collective proceedings order made since the class actions regime changed in 2015, it seemed an opportune time to reflect on a few trends in collective claims. More often than not, those claims…

Private enforcement of competition law is gaining momentum in Poland. Although the national legislation implementing Directive 2014/104/EU on damages for competition law infringements (the “Directive”) entered into force in 2017, its provisions did not trigger as many cases as expected for the first few years. This has now changed and the possibility to seek compensation for competition law infringements is now firmly on potential claimants’ radar. The limitation period applicable to competition claims has been…

The expansion of opt-out class actions in the UK continues with certification of claims aimed at recovering for alleged systemic abuses of dominance across the south east and west rail networks. The judgment reinforces that certification will be viewed as only a first step in class litigation in the UK – as opposed to the immediate precursor to settlement that it can signify in the US and Canada – and reinforces the likelihood that claimant…

In a judgment handed down this week by its Grand Chamber, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) decided that, under certain circumstances, a subsidiary can be held liable for cartel activity engaged by its parent company. This judgment has potentially far-reaching consequences and may give an additional impetus to private damages litigation. Background On 24 October 2019, Sumal (an alleged victim of the Trucks cartel) brought a claim for damages in follow-on litigation in front of…

A recent judgment by the German Federal Court of Justice paves the way for forum shopping in abuse of dominance cases[1]. Following the European Court of Justice’s Wikingerhof decision, the Federal Court of Justice has clarified that tort jurisdiction may apply even if the conduct in dispute is covered by contractual provisions. In addition, the Federal Court of Justice has confirmed the restrictive interpretation of generic choice-of-forum clauses of the sort that is often found…

A few weeks ago, the Regional Court of Hanover dismissed a cartel damage lawsuit by a claims vehicle for lack of legal standing[1]. The judgment deserves scrutiny, as it confirms a trend among German courts to dismiss bundled claims on this basis[2]. 1. The incentive for bundling claims German law knows no class actions, and no specific means of collective redress that would provide cartel victims with payment titles. Therefore, cartel victims sometimes bundle their…

The Year Ahead – our publication looking at key developments in global litigation and arbitration for 2021 – is now available in English, Spanish and Mandarin. COVID-19 and its effects have triggered many disputes, with litigation volumes in some jurisdictions having already doubled, and our clients expect us to help them spot trends and plan for the future. Our report features economic analysis from The Economist Intelligence Unit, and legal analysis from our team of more than…