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Private Litigation, Brussels, 13
October 2014
Matthew Hall
Partner, Solicitor (England and Wales)
McGuireWoods LLP, Brussels
mhall@mcguirewoods.com
be.linkedin.com/in/matthewhalllawyer
+32 2 629 4234

2. McGuireWoods | 2
CONFIDENTIAL
U.S. Antitrust Class Actions
A perfect storm against
defendants…
• The evolution of U.S. class
certification standards
• Ruling on class certification is
the issue
• Accounting for a settlement

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EU Antitrust Damages Actions

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EU Antitrust Damages Actions
• Public enforcement v. private enforcement
• Direct effect of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU → private
enforcement
• Courage and Crehan (ECJ; 2001) = compensation for harm
• Manfredi (ECJ; 2006) = actual loss, loss of profit, plus interest
Also using national competition rules

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EU Antitrust Damages Actions
It’s national courts and (mainly) national law and procedure…
• Evidence/disclosure
• Collective redress
• Quantification including passing-on
• Causation
• Limitation periods
• Liability
• Contribution claims
• Indirect purchasers
• Etc.
“to date most victims of infringements of the EU competition rules in practice
do not obtain compensation for the harm suffered”

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EU Antitrust Damages Actions
• Formal adoption of Directive expected late November 2014
• Applicable probably from 2016 in most countries
• A framework to build on
• Huge change for some countries
• Huge potential for growth in litigation: “only 25% of EC
antitrust decisions over 2008-2012 followed by civil actions for
damages”

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EU Antitrust Damages Actions

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Recent Case Law
• Kone (ECJ; 2014)
• EnBW (ECJ; 2014)
• Donau Chemie (ECJ; 2013)
• Cardiff Bus (UK CAT; 2012)
• Albion Water (UK CAT; 2013)
• Ebro (Supreme Court of Spain,
2013)

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Thank you
Matthew Hall
Partner, Solicitor (England and Wales)
McGuireWoods LLP, Brussels
mhall@mcguirewoods.com
be.linkedin.com/in/matthewhalllawyer
+32 2 629 4234