Hausfeld & Co LLP‘s group litigation practice handles large-scale, complex group actions with ’precision, coordination and unwavering strategic focus’. The team is particularly recognised for its competition prowess, notably acting on leading matters under the CAT collective regime. ESG litigation is another strength of the practice. Nicola Boyle is a ‘brilliant leader’, and boasts extensive expertise on technical elements of damage recovery and collective redress, while Lesley Hannah is praised for ’achieving fantastic results’. Anthony Maton acts on a range of high-value financial services cases, while Luke Streatfeild is adept at handling collective proceedings on the claimant and defence side. The team has seen significant arrivals in the last year, including Joanna Christoforou and Daniel Hunt from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius UK LLP and Freshfields, respectively.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Hausfeld have a very impressive Group Litigation practice. They provide an excellent service and, given their expertise in conducting large-scale claims, can deal with the factual, legal and procedural complexities with ease.’
‘Nicola Boyle is a brilliant leader of the time, who is extremely able and very easy to work with. She is supported by excellent associates, such as Jonothan Broadbent. I have also been impressed by other partners, such as Lesley Hannah, who achieves fantastic results.’
‘Hausfeld delivered in our follow-on group litigation with precision, coordination, and unwavering strategic focus. Their ability to manage a complex, multi-claimant, multi-defendant case with agility and effectiveness was extraordinary. Communication was seamless, risks were clearly explained, and we felt in control at every stage. ’
'I have known the Hausfeld firm since before they even set up in the UK; they set up ahead of their rivals and took a risk on the claimant sector growing. They put their money where their mouths were and took a significant risk to get the sector onto a sound footing before their rivals. They are THE firm in the sector and set the standards for others to follow.
'Anthony Maton wears his enormous experience lightly, but brings that experience to bear when difficult decisions have to be made.'
'Nicola Boyle is a brilliant leader of the time, who is extremely able and very easy to work with. She is supported by excellent associates, such as Jonothan Broadbent. I have also been impressed by other partners, such as Lesley Hannah, who achieves fantastic results.'
Key clients
- Dr Rachael Kent (Class Representative)
- Elizabeth Coll (Class Representative)
- Consumers’ Association Which? - Qualcomm
- Ad Tech Collective Action LLP [LLP members: Charles Arthur, Claudio Pollack, and Kate Wellington]
- Nikki Stopford
- Phillip Evans, former Inquiry Chair at the Competition and Markets Authority
- Dutch Trucks: more than 4,500 assignors from 37 European countries and partnership with various associations insurers and professional organisations in France and the Netherlands.
- Trucks claims before the CAT for: Balfour Beatty (multinational construction business), BOC (industrial gas company), Gist, Zamenhof, (both major logistics firms) and Whitbread Plc (a leading hospitality business).
- Spanish dairy farmers (Milk cartel): over 7000 farmers
- Numerous businesses and tens of thousands of individuals who have purchased or leased affected Mercedes vehicles installed with illegal ‘defeat devices’ which altered the apparent emissions of their vehicles
- John Armour
Work highlights
Acted for Dr Rachael Kent in Kent v Apple in the first trial against a tech giant for a claim brought under the CAT collective regime for 7 weeks in January and February 2025. With 19.6 million, it constitutes the largest class ever represented and with some £1.5 billion, the highest damages ever sought for any collective trial to be heard before the CAT. Currently, worldwide regulatory investigations and proceedings run against Apple for similar conduct in the US, Europe, Australia, South Korea and elsewhere. The UK Competition and Markets Authority intervened.
Continuing to progress the group litigation against Mercedes-Benz in in the UK on behalf of individual and business purchasers of diesel Mercedes vehicles installed with illegal ‘defeat devices’ which altered the apparent emissions of their vehicles. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are affected and the harmful impact of air pollution involves each of us. Together, there are more than a million claims against multiple car manufacturers, the largest group action before the English courts leading to unprecedented joint group litigation management. We act with other claimant firms as part of the GLO Steering Committee. The second issue trial dealing with whether the vehicles contained illegal defeat devices will take place in October 2025.
Continuing to act in the first ever consolidation of two competing UK opt-out collective actions on behalf of hundreds of thousands of UK publishers of websites and apps against Google for alleged anti-competitive practices in the online display advertising market, estimated to be worth £13.6 billion. The case set a groundbreaking precedent when our client agreed to combine the claim with a competing CPO application and the CAT ordered the consolidation of the claims which were certified in May 2024. We are now co-Counsel to the Ad Tech Collective Action LLP with members Charles Arthur, Claudio Pollack, and Kate Wellington. The claim is progressing swiftly, with a substantive CAT trial due to start in October 2025.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Nicola Boyle
Other key lawyers
Lesley Hannah; Anthony Maton; Luke Streatfeild; Joanna Christoforou; Daniel Hunt; Jonothan Broadbent