Pugh: Clear demand for transparency
The UK public’s awareness of class actions and litigation funding is continuing to rise, new research has found.
Meanwhile, public attitudes on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities of companies have remained “remarkably steady”, despite the “backlash” against ESG in the USA.
The proportion of UK consumers expressing high levels of awareness of class actions rose to 27%, up three percentage points since last year, which itself was a five-point increase on 2023.
Two-thirds said they would sign up to a class action if given the chance and the number saying they had never had the opportunity to join one dropped six points to 57%.
Portland Communications gathered 2,000 responses in October this year from consumers for its latest report, Reputation and accountability: Class actions, ESG and values-driven litigation.
Researchers said the increase in public awareness was “more notable” given that new Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) filings declined last year.
“This trend of fewer new cases, but greater awareness, suggests existing high-profile disputes are doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping class actions in the public eye.”
Public confidence in the effectiveness of class actions fell by five points to 52% this year, though that was still well above the 43% recorded in 2023.
There was a much bigger fall in the proportion of consumers saying they had low awareness of litigation funding, from 62% to 51%, while the minority with high awareness grew from 13% to 25%.
There was strong public support for the reforms to litigation funding recommended by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) in its report earlier this year.
Two-thirds agreed with the CJC that class representatives “must tell the court and others if they have a funder, who the funder is and where the money comes from”.
A majority (58%) also agreed that there should be no limit on the potential returns for funders, but the court must ensure the returns are ‘fair, just and reasonable’.
Almost seven out of 10 consumers believed that class actions “mostly make money for law firms and litigation funders”, a decrease from eight out of 10 last year.
On ‘opt out’ class actions, the proportion of consumers saying they were comfortable being included without their knowledge rose from 43% to 48%, while those saying they were uncomfortable fell by a similar extent to 26%.
Almost three-quarters of the public (72%) said a company’s chief executive owed a duty to ensure their organisation properly managed climate risks and 61% said they would be likely to join a class action if directly impacted by environmental damage from a company.
On ESG, two-thirds of consumers believed “the increasing number of companies being sued over greenwashing issues represents either a very or somewhat positive development”.
Despite the ESG “backlash” in the USA, with the Trump administration signalling the potential rollback of climate regulations, researchers said public attitudes in the UK remained “remarkably steady year-on-year”.
The report said: “The public holds high expectations for corporate leadership, deep scepticism towards environmental marketing claims, and a consistent appetite for accountability when companies are perceived to have misled consumers.”
Simon Pugh, partner at Portland and head of the litigation and disputes practice, added: “Our reveals that there is a clear public demand for transparency and accountability in both litigation funding and corporate behaviour.
“From disclosure of funders to the consequences of greenwashing, the message is consistent: the public expect openness and integrity, and they are prepared to act when these expectations are not met.”
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