header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: A call to (class) action

08 January 2021
Issue: 7915 / Categories: Legal News , Commercial
printer mail-detail
Opt out class actions should be made available for a wider scope of claims, the Law Society president, David Greene writes in NLJ this week
Last month, the Supreme Court’s landmark £14bn Mastercard v Merricks ruling, at [2020] UKSC 51, clarified standards to be applied and is likely to encourage more class actions to be filed. 

Greene, an experienced litigation lawyer, Law Society president & NLJ consultant editor, says the current process of opt out actions is limited to claims for breaches of competition law and ‘the time has come for widening the subject matter’.

He highlights that class action ‘now lies at the heart of a litigation revolution, buoyed by investors behind the litigation funding dynamic’. He identifies an underlying social policy shift following a series of institutional wrongdoings. He charts progress at home and abroad, and suggests a ‘wider collective process for redress’ be made available, including for product liability or financial services.

Issue: 7915 / Categories: Legal News , Commercial
printer mail-details
RELATED ARTICLES

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Sports, education and charities practice welcomes senior associate

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Partner and head of commercial litigation joins in Chelmsford

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Firm strengthens Glasgow corporate practice with partner hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
back-to-top-scroll