Day: US Chamber trying to meddle in UK system
Claimant class action lawyers have accused a leading City law firm of doing the dirty work of the US Chamber of Commerce, which has long campaigned in the UK for pro-business civil justice reform.
But CMS has rejected the claims of the Collective Redress Lawyers Association (CORLA) over its European Class Action Report 2025, published this week.
This showed there were more than 655m class members of actions in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) at the end of 2024 – equivalent to 10.4 class actions for every person in the country – and that the cumulative value of UK class actions overall increased by 10% to £134bn last year.
In a statement, Martyn Day, co-president of CORLA and senior partner of Leigh Day, said: “The figures in this report seek to give a misleading impression of the UK’s collective actions regime.
“Counting over 650m class members in CAT claims takes no account of overlap of consumers and obviously says nothing about whether those claims succeed.”
He continued: “One must always bear in mind when reading research reports who the author is. This data comes from a defendant-focused law firm that advises a lobby group financed by the US Chamber of Commerce, whose sole purpose is to fight for the interests of US corporate giants, so it is steely in its determination to obstruct collective proceedings in the UK against Goliath companies and thwart access to justice for UK consumers and UK businesses.
“This is yet another example of the US Chamber of Commerce trying to meddle in the UK justice system.
“The report also omits outcomes. The regime is still in its early days, and class actions are of course subject to strict CAT scrutiny.
“The regime’s success should be judged by its outcomes, its ability to hold corporate wrongdoers to account and secure fair redress for consumers, not by the number of claims filed.”
A spokeswoman confirmed that the lobby group referred to is Fair Civil Justice (FCJ).
FCJ – which in particular seeks to rein in third-party litigation funding – was set up in late 2022 with the support of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), which has been active in the UK over the last decade in pushing for reform of civil litigation, with its political lobbying focused on Conservatives.
Its executive director is former Conservative MP and minister Seema Kennedy, who is also an ex-City solicitor.
The chamber argues that it should have a voice in the UK because of the number of US businesses operating here. FCJ’s website says it is “protecting British businesses from predatory litigation”.
FCJ is a company limited by guarantee and its other members are the British Chambers of Commerce, the Finance and Leasing Association – which intervened in the Supreme Court motor finance case –the European Justice Forum and British American Business.
CMS does act for FCJ but said it played no role in the report.
Partner Kenny Henderson said: “The CMS class action report is entirely a product of our own detailed research across several European jurisdictions. The report and commentary arise from primary source data and was a major undertaking.”
FCJ had no comment. We reported yesterday that the CAT had granted it permission to intervene in a hearing on how to distribute £10m not claimed by consumers in a collective action.
On its website, the ILR says: “Over the past decade, plaintiffs’ lawyers and litigation funders have imported some of the worst practices of the US lawsuit system in the UK. The UK litigation landscape has seen an alarming rise in class or group actions against businesses.”
It cites FCJ’s view of the UK litigation scene without making clear their connection.
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