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CMS

All articles about CMS.

Litigation funding “explosion” driving class actions across Europe

The “explosive growth” of litigation funding is behind an increase in class actions across Europe over the past two years, a report by the law firm CMS has argued. Kenny Henderson of CMS warns though that “as litigation funding expands, and in particular into class actions where the class members are often private individuals without independent legal advice, we are expecting increasing calls for formal statutory regulation.”

CMS European Class Actions Report 2022

CMS has published its European Class Actions Report 2022. It notes that 2021 saw a record high for the number of collective proceeding order (CPO) applications filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in the UK. 85% were stand-alone claims - a marked change from 2016 to 2020 when the majority of claims filed were follow-on claims. Stand-alone claims are often seen as attractive for claimant law firms and funders in that regulatory scrutiny attracts attention from various potential claimants.

Tory backbencher calls on government to close ‘loopholes’ letting London firms work for the Kremlin

Tory backbencher Kevin Hollinrake has called on the government to close the “loopholes” that have allowed UK professional services firms to continue carrying out bankruptcy proceedings on behalf of the Russian state. The Conservative party MP accused accountancy giant Grant Thornton, litigation funder Harbour, and London law firm CMS of undermining the UK’s efforts to “restrict the Kremlin’s access to funds,” by carrying out bankruptcy proceedings against Russian oligarch Alexey Motylev. A spokesperson for Harbour noted that the litigation funder had not been involved in the case since June 2021.

CMS clashes with claimant lawyers and funders over ‘remarkable rise’ in European class actions

Claimant law firms and litigation funders have hit back at claims by CMS that they are helping to fuel a ‘remarkable’ rise in the number of European class actions, with Leslie Perrin of Calunius Capital arguing that "the assertion by CMS to their clients that class action risk is, increasingly, a board-level issue must be a good thing for business and society as it ensures greater accountability and adherence to the rule of law."

CMS European Class Actions Report 2021

Kenny Henderson, Leah Gardner and Dr. Zsolt Okányi of CMS present key trends they have identified from studying the collective proceedings filed in Europe over the past five years, noting that, among other things, class actions in the technology sector are increasing dramatically, with 15 times the number of claims filed in 2020 as in 2017 (i.e. growth of 1400%) and data protection claims grew 11 times (i.e. by 1000%) between 2016 and 2020.

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