First competition CPO granted by the CAT in Merricks

23 August, 2021
On 18 August 2021 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) approved the first application for a collective proceedings order (CPO) under the UK’s competition class action regime introduced in 2015, in Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated and Others.  The application was initially turned down by the CAT in 2017 but was remitted to it … Read more

Port of Newcastle to remain unregulated, but time-frames to be reviewed

19 February, 2021
By Paul Burton In a decision that will be welcomed by many of Australia’s port operators, for the second time in less than two years, the Federal Treasurer has decided that the shipping channel service at the Port of Newcastle should not be regulated. The Treasurer’s decision on 16 February 2021 is in response to … Read more

Court of Appeal orders defendants to request their employees and ex-employees to produce personal devices for inspection to identify documents in defendants’ control

11 February, 2021
The post below was first published on our Litigation blog  The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that, where personal devices belonging to the defendants’ employees and ex-employees potentially contained relevant documents within the defendants’ “control” for the purposes of disclosure, the court had jurisdiction to order the defendants to request the employees and ex-employees … Read more

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

04 February, 2021
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 … Read more

Supreme Court ruling in Merricks: some important clarifications but a number of unresolved issues

15 December, 2020
On 11 December 2020 the Supreme Court handed down a very significant judgment relating to the certification of a £14bn opt-out competition collective action brought by Walter Merricks against Mastercard, in respect of losses alleged to have resulted from the use of anti-competitive multilateral interchange fees. The Supreme Court largely confirmed the less restrictive approach … Read more

Supreme Court remits £14bn class action against Mastercard back to Competition Appeal Tribunal for reconsideration of certification

11 December, 2020
Earlier today the Supreme Court handed down its hotly-anticipated judgment regarding the certification of an opt-out competition collective action brought by Walter Merricks against Mastercard. The claim is seeking £14bn in damages on behalf of some 46.2 million UK consumers, in respect of losses alleged to have resulted from the use of anti-competitive multilateral interchanges … Read more

Highlights from the GCR Interactive: Competition Litigation Conference

05 November, 2020
We were delighted to support the GCR Interactive: Competition Litigation conference which took place earlier this week. The ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic meant that the conference was hosted online, rather than at the Herbert Smith Freehills London office as in previous years. However, with a distinguished line-up of expert speakers and panellists – … Read more