Municipio de Mariana & Ors v BHP Group

Municipio de Mariana & Ors v BHP Group

Described by one London disputes head as ‘the biggest class action ever’, Municipio de Mariana & Ors v BHP Group sees a claimant class of more than 700,000 bringing claims for damages in excess of £36bn arising from the 2015 collapse of Brazil’s Fundão Dam. On 5 November 2015 the dam suffered a catastrophic failure. …

Mastercard proceedings

Mastercard proceedings

Complex claims are being brought against Mastercard and Visa in an ongoing decade-long saga involving over 1,800 corporate claimants across the hospitality, arts, financial services, and leisure sectors. With three different strands of cases – Merricks v Mastercard, collective cards, and umbrella proceedings – lawyers involved are finding themselves in court almost weekly. The first …

Russian aircraft claims

Russian aircraft claims

In line with the trend towards mega-trials, the Commercial Court in October is due to hear the highly publicised Russian aircraft insurance claims, with aircraft lessors bringing multiple proceedings across a range of jurisdictions. The losses arise from the detention of hundreds of commercial aircraft in Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine and the …

Government to address PACCAR ruling with amendment to Digital Markets Bill – but litigation funders argue it isn’t enough

Government to address PACCAR ruling with amendment to Digital Markets Bill – but litigation funders argue it isn’t enough

An amendment filed to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill last week will allow the use of damages-based agreements (DBAs) for opt-out collective proceedings heard in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, but only for litigation funders. The proposed amendment responds to the Supreme Court’s decision in PACCAR in July this year, which ruled that litigation …

Allen & Overy suffers ‘data incident’ as ransomware group LockBit claims responsibility

Allen & Overy suffers ‘data incident’ as ransomware group LockBit claims responsibility

Allen & Overy has confirmed that it has suffered a ‘data incident’. Posts from X user and self-described ‘threat intelligence platform for cybersecurity’ @FalconFeedsio on Wednesday 8 November suggested that cybercriminal group LockBit had targeted the firm, with a threat to release ‘all available data’ by 28 November. ‘We have experienced a data incident impacting …

 ‘Unnecessary bedwetting’ – litigation funders moved to allay fears following Supreme Court blow

 ‘Unnecessary bedwetting’ – litigation funders moved to allay fears following Supreme Court blow

The UK litigation funding industry has been left scrambling to renegotiate contracts in the wake of a Supreme Court judgment earlier this week (26 July) which ruled that many of the funding agreements used for group action competition cases are unenforceable. The judgment, which relates to the high-profile cartel case brought against DAF and other …

Bench strength revisited

Bench strength revisited

The resounding message is that London is still booming. Fears surrounding its status as a leading jurisdiction for disputes being adversely impacted by Brexit appear to have gone largely unfounded, with not only the established players, but less traditional disputes practices and boutiques thriving. Martin Davies of Latham & Watkins sums up the outlook across …