A second edition of our text on class actions in England and Wales, co-authored by Herbert Smith Freehills lawyers, has been published in the UK by Sweet & Maxwell.
The work takes the reader through the life cycle of a class action claim and includes a chapter devoted to the settlement of class actions.
Focusing in particular on the Group Litigation Order procedure and the opt-out mechanism for bringing competition claims in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (as well as representative actions under CPR 19.8), the discussion of settlement issues covers:
- the topical question of how the English courts encourage settlement, both generally and in class actions
- practical issues that can arise in settling class actions, including around questions of confidentiality and authority (including the use of representative steering groups or boards to conduct negotiations and execute agreements)
- the extent to which the court becomes involved in settlements of class actions, either informally within the case management process or through a formal requirement for court approval (comparing the lack of a general approval requirement in GLO proceedings to other group procedures both domestically and internationally).
For more information about the text, see this post on our Litigation Notes blog.