Corporate accountability and social justice are at Hausfeld & Co LLP’s core, and the team is no stranger to taking on big corporations and institutions, supporting a range of NGOs in doing so. Its desire to prioritise those most vulnerable impacted by environmental misdemeanours and/or climate change translates to a flexible fee structure to facilitate equal access to justice. Furthermore, a significant proportion of climate and environmental work is undertaken on a pro bono basis.  

The competition team is currently bringing a group action, as part of the steering committee, against Mercedes-Benz in the UK on behalf of thousands of individual and business purchasers of diesel Mercedes vehicles after it was found the company had installed devices to cheat emissions tests.

In another high-profile case, human rights and environmental experts Sarah Moore and Wessen Jazrawi are representing The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) in its intervention in the Supreme Court hearing Manchester Ship Canal Company Limited (MSCCL) vs United Utilities (UU). The client supports MSSCL in resisting UU’s attempt to protect water companies from common law challenges. If the Supreme Court decides in favour of MSCCL, water companies will hold increased accountability for sewage discharge in rivers across the UK.

Disputes expert Simon Bishop is also engaged with ground-breaking legal action exposing greenwashing issues in the banking sector.

The firm’s climate impact hub, which launched in 2021, drives conversations around the role of law in the climate crisis. The team regularly publishes and contributes to articles, blogs, and vlogs on the platform to keep users up to date on the most relevant developments in this space.