The UK Class Actions Forum - The 5th Annual

Boris Bronfentrinker heads Willkie’s Antitrust & Competition Litigation practice in London. He is a solicitor advocate practicing in complex commercial litigation, with particular experience in competition litigation. He has represented clients, both as claimants and defendants, in leading and high profile cases in both the High Court of England & Wales and the Competition Appeal Tribunal, as well as coordinating competition litigation proceedings in other jurisdictions globally. Regularly acting for both claimants and defendants gives Boris a unique perspective and insight into the conduct of competition disputes from both sides. Boris is experienced in not only litigating cases to judgment but also resolving claims through alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation. Boris is recognised and highly ranked by Who’s Who Legal, Chambers UK, Chambers Europe, Chambers Global and The Legal 500, placing him among the best globally in the area of competition litigation.

Wessen is a Partner in the Competition team in the Innovation department.

She specialises in large-scale competition damages litigation, on behalf of both corporate entities and consumers in opt-out claims, before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, High Court and the Court of Appeal. She also has significant experience litigating environmental claims.

She has been recognised as a key individual by Legal 500 in Competition Litigation who noted that she "balances a strategic overview of complex issues with a vigorous attention to detail" and by Chambers in Environment: Claimant as “intellectually rigorous”. 

Mark practises fully alongside his role as Freshfields' London Managing Partner.  He advises on both contentious and non-contentious competition matters, with a particular focus on competition/antitrust litigation and investigations.

Mark has unsurpassed experience defending clients from damages actions before the UK courts and Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). He has acted on many of the leading UK competition damages cases, and has particular experience in collective proceedings in the CAT, acting on the defence side of the defining matters. Mark also regularly co-ordinates investigations and litigation arising from the same conduct across multiple jurisdictions, including on a pan-European or global basis.

Tom joined Harcus Parker as a partner, from a leading international firm, in February 2021.

Tom has practised commercial litigation for over two decades.  He has particular experience in handling disputes in the banking and finance arena, including disputes involving structured products and investment funds, as well as managing regulatory investigations. He also has extensive experience in competition litigation having been involved in both the LIBOR and Forex investigations and represented two air cargo airlines in the air cargo cartel proceedings in the UK. Those airlines were the first to successfully settle out of the litigation and he has subsequently presented at conferences on settlement in multi-party cases. His matters are often complex, multi-party, and multi-jurisdictional.

Camilla Sanger has wide experience of handling complex and substantial disputes which often span multiple jurisdictions. Her practice covers commercial, banking and competition litigation and contentious regulatory investigations, as well as internal reviews. She has acted for a number of major corporates, banks and other financial services institutions.

A particular focus of her practice is on class and group action claims; she has acted on many significant class action proceedings, including some of the highest profile competition-litigation claims before the English courts.

Danielle is a Partner and Head of the Commercial Dispute Resolution group in Browne Jacobson’s London office.

Danielle’s commercial litigation, international arbitration and ADR practice focuses on complex (often multi- jurisdictional) matters involving contractual disputes, insolvency, fraud, trusts, professional negligence claims, corporate and regulatory issues, shareholder disputes and group litigation.

She is recommended in legal directories for her “outstanding commercial awareness” and “mastery of the subject matter and the legal system” (Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) 2024).

A leader in international disputes, Danielle has worked in the United Kingdom, Middle East and Australia, assisting clients to navigate and resolve disputes. Much of her work is in emerging areas in the financial and professional services, technology, fintech, commodities, and energy sectors.

Danielle has extensive experience acting in proceedings in the High Court and appellate courts, in arbitrations under the LCIA, ICC and other institutional rules, and in mediations. Her cross-border practice has included matters involving UK and foreign (EMEA, Americas, APAC, offshore or other) jurisdictions. Danielle’s matters regularly involve conflict of laws, jurisdictional issues, and the application of foreign law. Her experience includes obtaining urgent injunctive relief and freezing orders in the English courts and acting on enforcement and asset recovery.

Helen Fairhead is a competition litigation lawyer based in London. 

Helen's practice covers all types of contentious competition matters, with a particular focus on damages claims, often resulting from prior European Commission decisions. She has acted on a number of the most complex and high-profile pieces of competition litigation in recent years.

She has significant experience of acting for claimants and defendants in High Court litigation and has in-depth knowledge of the litigation funding market in the UK.

Helen is a Solicitor-Advocate with higher rights of audience in the courts of England and Wales (Higher Courts Civil Proceedings).

Sarah is the Head of the Competition Group in the Innovation department. 

Sarah is a very experienced litigator, specialising in competition litigation, with particular experience acting for claimants in complex, high profile cases involving competition law based claims or defences.  Sarah has represented clients in leading competition damages claims in the English courts and in arbitrations.

Sarah also assists businesses that find themselves under investigation by Competition Regulators and businesses that are concerned about the way their affairs may have been conducted - attending Dawn Raids, advising on defence strategies, assisting with responses to information requests, applying for leniency from fines (where appropriate), assessing potential civil liabilities, and making submissions.

Sarah has been recognised as a recommended individual for Competition Litigation in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500, who have recognised her as "a great team leader in litigation matters."

Sarah is a member of the Law Society Competition Section, ABA Antitrust Law Section and Competition Law Association.

Partner at Clarke Willmott specialising in high-value and complex commercial disputes. I have experience across a broad range of domestic and international matters, including in the areas of banking / financial services, fraud, insolvency, professional negligence and tax.

Tom Shortland is a partner and solicitor advocate in the London office of Cohen & Gresser. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration and White Collar Defense & Regulation practice groups.

Tom advises corporations and senior executives, particularly in the investment funds and financial services industries, on the prosecution and defence of complex commercial disputes, and on the navigation of sensitive and high-stakes investigations, regulatory inquiries, and follow-on litigation.

Tom has considerable experience acting, for both claimants and defendants, in complex and high-value commercial disputes in the English Business & Property Courts, courts in overseas jurisdictions, and before international arbitration tribunals. He has particular expertise in disputes arising out of M&A and financing transactions, joint ventures and shareholdings, insolvency, and allegations of corporate misconduct. Tom is well-versed in group and collective action proceedings in the English courts and in the utilization of litigation finance.

In addition to his commercial disputes practice, Tom regularly advises on internal and disciplinary investigations, regulatory proceedings, director disqualification applications, and economic crime matters. He has handled investigations and prosecutions conducted by a range of UK authorities, including the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, Trading Standards, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and The Insolvency Service. Tom previously practiced as a Principal Investigative Lawyer within the Bribery & Corruption Division of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and draws on this experience when advising clients on compliance and defence strategies.

Partner in the Commercial Litigation team at Addleshaw Goddard and experienced in a broad range of commercial disputes with particular expertise in antitrust/competition litigation and large scale group litigation. Recent work includes group actions, multi-party lead case litigation, representative actions, GLOs and includes three of the most significant UK competition litigation cases of the last 10 years (the National Grid/GIS, Power Cables, and Air Cargo damages claims). Over the last 15 years Paul's work has covered a wide spectrum of business sectors, especially those that are consumer-facing, with a particular focus on cases in the transport/automotive, energy and financial services sectors.

Natasha is a Partner at Milberg London and is the driving force behind the firm’s Competition Litigation practice.

She has a particular interest in issues relating to the interplay between competition, consumer protection and data protection law in the context of data dominance and platforms. Before joining Milberg London, she represented clients from a range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, construction, financial services, retail and digital.

Natasha developed and led the opt-out consumer collective action – Justin Le Patourel v BT. The first standalone collective action to be successfully certified by the UK’s specialist court, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and a key case in the development of the CAT’s collective actions regime.

Satyen Dhana is a partner in the Antitrust & Competition Team in the London office of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP. Satyen has experience in EU, competition and regulatory law and has extensive experience of their application within a wide range of industries. He has advised on both UK and EU competition investigations and sector enquiries/market investigations, as well as Phase 1 and Phase 2 UK and EU merger investigations.

Satyen is ranked in both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. He is described as “energetic, innovative and super smart”, with an “encyclopedic knowledge of competition law” and “absolutely exceptional”. Clients also describe him as knowing “how to speak the language of business people so it’s very comfortable for me to bring him in.”

Dr. Kent is the first female class representative in UK legal history, leading a collective action against Apple on behalf of 19.6 million UK consumers, alleging they have breached competition law and overcharged for app purchases, seeking £1.5bn in compensation.

Dr. Rachael Kent is a leading researcher, author, consultant, podcast host, and Senior Lecturer in Digital Economy and Society at King’s College London, where her research examines the impact of digital technology on mental and physical health.

Dr. Kent is the founder of tech-wellbeing consultancy Dr. Digital Health, providing evidence-based research and strategy for businesses and employees on managing tech saturation, and how tech ‘addiction’ impacts mental and physical health in everyday professional and personal life. Some of Dr. Kent’s clients include the NHS, the UK Government, Vivo Barefoot, Paramount, and CBS.

Emily is an experienced litigator with particular expertise in complex data privacy and media disputes, as well as class action litigation, both in the data privacy and competition spheres.

Tatiana Siakka is a competition law specialist with wide-ranging experience in both transactional and contentious matters. She is a noted practitioner, with The Legal 500 describing her as an "outstanding competition lawyer" whose "knowledge of the subject is second-to-none". Tatiana advises clients on all aspects of EU and UK competition law and related commercial strategy, and has successfully represented clients before the European and UK courts, as well as before the European Commission and the CMA.

Simon specialises in commercial and competition litigation. He has extensive experience of group litigation, both in the context of commercial disputes and in private damages actions for competition law breaches. Simon advises clients in relation to both High Court trials, proceedings in the Competition Appeal Tribunal and alternative forms of dispute resolution.

His practice includes co-ordinating and advising in relation to English law issues arising out of overseas proceedings, as well as in proceedings brought in the English Courts, and he advises corporates, international banks and private wealth funds as well as certain high-net-worth individuals.

Simon is a member of the Financial Services Lawyers Association and is recommended in the Legal 500 directory for EU/competition and competition litigation. Simon studied at Jesus College, Cambridge (M.A. Cantab (2004)) as well as at BPP Law School in London before joining Macfarlanes LLP in 2007. Simon is a SolicitorAdvocate

Jennifer is a partner in the Litigation and Dispute Management Team at Eversheds Sutherland. She handles a broad range of complex disputes and investigations for clients in the financial and professional services sectors. Jennifer recently defended an international bank in the Ingenious Litigation, a funded group action involving over 350 claimants which featured in The Lawyer’s top 20 cases for 2022, and is noted for her work on group claims in Legal 500.

Jan Spittka is a Partner in the Düsseldorf office with extensive experience in contentious and non-contentious data privacy and cybersecurity advice for clients.

In 2015, Dorothea co-founded Charles Lyndon with the intention of creating a law firm that is dynamic and focussed on claimant litigation.

Dorothea trained as a barrister at Pump Court Tax Chambers and spent time in the Financial Regulation Group at Linklaters LLP, specialising in contentious issues.

Dorothea currently works across Charles Lyndon’s practice areas, she has been involved in the running and management of Japanese knotweed cases since 2015 and is a recognised specialist in this area.

Dorothea is also heavily involved in Charles Lyndon’s collective actions, filing a claim on behalf of millions of iPhone owners against Apple Inc, and has significant experience in group litigation.

Dan Leader specialises in international human rights and environmental law, with a particular focus on business and human rights.   He has extensive experience of cases against parent companies, complex group actions and mass tort claims, as well as cross-border disputes and jurisdictional issues.

Dan has a longstanding interest in public policy in business and human rights and was external expert member of the UK Government Steering Board which oversees the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2014-17).  Since 2018 he has been a Board Member of the Corporate Responsibility Coalition (CORE).   He is a member of the Steering Committee of the comparative law project on civil liability for human rights violations at the Bonavero Institute, Oxford University and a member of the Advisory Board of the British Institute for International and Comparative Law’s Human Rights Due Diligence Forum.  He writes and speaks widely about business and human rights issues at conferences and universities in Britain and internationally.   

Walter Hugh Merricks CBE, who qualified as an English solicitor, has held a number of senior appointments in legal and public institutions, the best known being his tenure as the inaugural Chief Ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service. He is now Chair of IMPRESS, the Independent Monitor for the Press, and the law reform charity JUSTICE. He is a member of the Civil Aviation Authority's consumer panel. As proposed class representative, he has filed a £14 billion class action claim on behalf of British consumers against MasterCard Incorporated before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Andrew Poulton is a litigation partner based in London.  

Andrew specialises in high-stakes claims and crisis litigation, including funded group and class actions, for major international organisations.  He has extensive experience acting on defence side mandates for companies operating in the financial services, natural resources, transport, and technology and telecommunications sectors.

In respect of group and class actions specifically, Andrew has acted on a number of high-profile s90 and s90A FSMA securities claims, as well as a variety of well-known consumer claims and data breach actions. These proceedings have involved a mix of procedural forms, including opt-in, GLO and CPR 19.8. Most recently, Andrew has defended a number of market leading CPR 19.8 claims, including in Wirral Council v Reckitt Benckiser and Indivior and Smyth v British Airways and easyJet, all of which were commenced following the Supreme Court’s decision in Lloyd v Google

Jeremy Sher is an international disputes lawyer. His experience spans litigation, arbitration and regulatory and compliance issues. His work frequently has a cross-border element or reputational implications. He is International Co-Head of our Global Class Actions Group.  Jeremy has extensive experience coordinating global class action defence strategies across Europe, North America and Australia. He has defended class actions relating to consumer protection, securities, corporate governance, product liability, climate change, environmental protection, data protection and cyber-security, employment status and competition follow-on damages.

Tom is a solicitor-advocate specialising in complex high-value litigation.

Since joining Pogust Goodhead in 2021, Tom has primarily represented the firm’s Brazilian clients in the English courts, including 700,000 claimants seeking damages against BHP arising from the Fundão dam disaster, and 1,500 orange growers in cartel proceedings against members of the Cutrale family.

Tom has litigated a wide range of cases throughout his career in the English Commercial Court, Chancery Division, Technology and Construction Court, Administrative Court, King’s Bench Division, and Court of Appeal, often in parallel with related proceedings in other jurisdictions.

Matthew Reach’s dispute resolution practice covers a broad range of commercial (business and finance related) litigation and high-value, complex securities group actions and financial services claims. Matthew is also well versed in the use of various alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as mediation.

He acts for international companies, pension and hedge funds, UK corporates, SMEs and high-net-worth individuals with claims in the High Court, Court of Appeal and various arbitral institutions. Matthew’s work often includes a cross-border element.

He is regarded as an expert user of third-party litigation funding, legal costs insurance and no-win no-fee style engagements. Matthew is adept at helping his clients turn their litigation risks into contingent assets.

Matthew joined Fox Williams in 2022 after seven years at Keystone Law. Previously, Matthew worked in-house as Head of Legal for a third-party litigation funder where he was instrumental in placing funding and insurance for high-profile claims some of the UK’s largest financial institutions.

John A. Yanchunis leads the Class Action Department of Morgan & Morgan. Mr. Yanchunis’ practice— which began after completing a two-year clerkship with United States District Judge Carl O. Bue, Jr., Southern District of Texas—has concentrated on complex litigation and spans over 40 years, including class actions for over two-thirds of that time. Mr. Yanchunis served also as lead counsel for the insurance regulator for the state of Florida during the state’s investigation of the insurance industry for bidding rigging , price fixing and undisclosed compensation in the sale of insurance in the state. He has been   continuously recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer for the past 20

Years .  His work in the area of privacy began in 1999 with the filing of the Doubleclick class action , and since that time , he has held leadership  positions in most of the largest data privacy  cases to date, including Yahoo, Equifax, Capital One , Google, Home Depot and Target.  He has repeatedly  been recognized by Law360 as an MVP , most recently in 2024 , in the cybersecurity practice area, and in 2020 he was awarded  the Daily Business Review’s  Attorney of the Year award for the state of Florida for his work in the privacy and cybersecurity. He is a frequent lecturer nationally and internationally on the topics of privacy and cybersecurity

Sarah Abram KC was called in 2006 and took silk in 2022; she is described in the directories as “a star of both the present and the future”.  

Sarah acts as lead counsel in the most high-profile litigation and arbitration across the fields of competition, EU and commercial law.  Her wide-ranging practice involves multi-jurisdiction and multi-party cases, raising novel points of law.

In addition to commercial and competition disputes of all varieties, Sarah regularly acts in class action litigation, FRAND litigation, matters involving data/big tech and regulatory appeals.  Current and recent highlights include acting for Telefonica in the 3-month trial of the litigation regarding the collapse of Phones4U (The Lawyer Top 20 case for 2022); leading for BMW in an important expedited appeal to the CAT regarding the scope of the CMA’s powers post-Brexit; leading defendant teams in CPO litigation including Rail Fares, RoRo and Crypto-currency, and other group litigation including Emissions; acting as sole counsel for the successful claimant in the Commercial Court trial Acerus v Recipharm; leading on global FRAND issues in Nokia v Oppo.  She is instructed in substantially every large competition damages matter of the day, including Trucks, FX and Power Cables.

Current directories include comments that Sarah has an “[i]ncredible knack of being on top of everything all of the time, from the high level strategy to the finer detail”, is “[v]ery proactive, will drive a case forward” and is a “very skilled advocate” who “is incredibly quick and charming”. She was nominated as EU and Competition Junior of the Year in the Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2019 and in 2020.

Sarah speaks fluent French and some German.  She is called to the Irish Bar and is a member of the Irish Law Library, enabling her to continue acting in cases before the courts of the EU post-Brexit.

Sarah won the award for Pro Bono Junior of the Year in 2021, and is a Trustee of Advocate (formerly the Bar Pro Bono Unit). 

Litigation can be a daunting undertaking for corporates and individuals, and is often a distraction for clients who would rather focus on furthering their businesses. My job, therefore, is to work alongside clients to help resolve those disputes and minimise those distractions, however possible.

I specialise in solving commercial problems. This can be achieved via court action, arbitration, or alternative means such as mediation. I have an extensive range of experience, which can be turned to almost any type of disputes. My practice includes most commercial litigation work, often with an international element, including breach of contract, misrepresentation and warranty claims, and cases involving freezing injunctions and other forms of injunctive relief. I have a particular interest and focus on financial services disputes, civil fraud and data and cyber risk.

Focusing on litigation and broader disputes strategies, Fiona’s portfolio encompasses high-profile finance litigation, including securities litigation claims, restructuring and insolvency-related litigation, commercial litigation and sovereign debt disputes. She frequently litigates both before the English Courts and other fora, in complex, multi-jurisdictional and novel situations. Fiona also has a strong advisory practice working with clients to understand litigation risk and develop litigation strategies ahead of time.

Fiona’s sharp litigation skills combined with commercial nous has resulted in a strong track record in her cases. She has successfully represented numerous bondholder and lender groups in English litigation, as well as in contentious restructurings. Fiona also has a prolific record in commercial litigations before the English High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

Fiona is ranked as a ‘Leading Individual’ for Banking Litigation in Chambers and Legal 500 2023, and a ‘Next Generation Partner’ for Commercial Litigation in Legal 500 2023. Fiona also won Securities Litigator of the Year at the Women in Business Law Awards 2023 and was included in The Lawyer’s “Hot 100” list 2023.

Paul Stuart’s practice focuses on competition law and litigation.

Consistently recognized as a specialist in competition litigation, Paul’s practice covers collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, standalone and follow-on litigation in the English courts, and appearing as an advocate before the EU General Court and Court of Justice.

Paul also advises on all aspects of UK and EU competition law, including merger control, cartels, abuse of dominance, and digital markets regulation. He is also an active member of Cleary Gottlieb’s pro bono practice.

Paul joined the firm in 2010 as an associate, was resident in the Brussels office from 2010 to 2012, became counsel in 2020, and became a partner in 2024.

Charles leads Brodies' competition law practice, supporting clients on sensitive and strategically important matters including obtaining merger clearance for major M&A projects, investigating potential competition breaches, responding to dawn raids and acting in competition litigation. He also advises private and public sector clients on State aid and public procurement, in both contentious and non-contentious scenarios.

Charles also supports commercial, public sector, charitable and individual clients on public law issues including judicial review, human rights, information law, charity law and public authority powers and duties. He advises clients on constitutional matters, such as the limits on the Scottish Parliament’s powers, and is the co-head of Brodies' Brexit Advisory Group. He also has significant experience of drafting legislation, including Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Charles is an experienced litigator, having handled major cases in courts up to the UK Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Charles also heads up Brodies' cross-practice food & drink sector group.

Koen Rutten is one of the founding partners of Finch Dispute Resolution. He is a corporate and financial litigation specialist. Koen has extensive practical experience acting in class actions and collective claims before the Dutch courts. He acts mainly on the plaintiff side. Koen specializes in securities litigation and is acting on behalf of investors in high-profile cases including class actions. He specializes in antitrust cases, but also in consumer related matter. His work covers all industries, but mainly his focus is on banking, telecom and the energy. He advises litigation funders worldwide on the funding of class actions in the Netherlands and is involved in setting up foundation structures to facilitate such class actions or collective claims.

Belinda has more than a decade of competition law experience, and specialises in competition damages litigation before the English High Court, Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, particularly on behalf of multinational corporations in follow-on damages claims. She has extensive expertise in developing and coordinating multi-jurisdictional litigation strategies, both within Europe and beyond. She also represents investors in shareholder litigation.

Mr. Vasselli is a competition economist with a decade of experience in antitrust matters. He has advised clients on a broad range of issues, including mergers, cartels, abuse of dominance, and damages assessments.

With particular expertise in litigation, Mr. Vasselli – acting on behalf of both claimants and defendants – has conducted detailed economic analyses to assess liability and quantify damages in standalone and follow-on proceedings, including numerous class action cases.