The High Court’s decision in Crossley & Ors v Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft & Ors – a new direction for the law on implied fraudulent misrepresentations?

Rhys Corbett of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP predicts that the High Court’s decision in Crossley & Ors v Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft & Orsa may lead to a new direction for the law on implied fraudulent misrepresentations. Implied fraudulent misrepresentation claims are generally difficult to get off the ground, primarily due to an apparent requirement for the claimant to have given contemporaneous conscious thought to the representation for the purposes of reliance (the “Awareness Requirement”). Rhys notes that there are a number of actions currently proceeding under this provision, which appears to be particularly attractive to litigation funders, but none has yet proceeded to trial. Read more.