KNOETZL's Antitrust Team Discusses Rise In Lawsuits With Austrian Magazine, Trend

In a recent interview with Trend's Thomas Martinek KNOETZL's dispute resolution experts, Katrin Hanschitz (Partner), Thomas Voppichler (Counsel), Bettina Knoetzl (Partner), Florian Haugeneder (Partner) and Patrizia Netal (Partner) discussed the surge of lawsuits in Austria related to antitrust (competition law) violations.

Bettina Knoetzl highlights that this surge is due to sustained efforts of the European Union against business practices considered to be unfair competition, such as price fixing. The recently implemented EU Damages Directive is expressly designed to foster private enforcement of damage claims by easing access to justice. It allows, for example, a disclosure procedure granting access to otherwise confidential information, shifts the burden of proof to some extent to the accused entity and extends the statute of limitations in favor of a claimant. Bettina Knoetzl cautions that the joint liability of all members of a cartel can beget serious