Collective Litigation in Europe: Law and Practice
Collective Litigation in Europe: Law and Practice – in print or PDF– is available for purchase at www.jurispub.com.
Inspired by the enormous body of work generated by and for the European Commission over many years leading to its 2013 Recommendation, the Representative Actions Directive, and the national transposition laws of EU Member States, Collective Litigation in Europe: Law and Practice is a compendium of the law and experience of all forms of collective litigation in 33 European jurisdictions, including all 27 Member States, the four EFTA States, and the two most active jurisdictions in the UK (England & Wales and Scotland).
Practitioners, academics, and all interested in this field will find this resource an indispensable guide to the approaches to collective litigation procedure embedded in diverse national laws of 33 jurisdictions throughout Europe. It is the work of four distinguished editors with long tenure in the field and in law, arbitration, and academia. In this new work, contributors to 33 chapters describe national legislation, procedural approaches to domestic and cross-border collective litigation and significant national cases in their jurisdictions, addressing major issues in collective litigation such as jurisdiction, admissibility, standing, rights to be heard, choice of law, parallel litigation, funding, financial incentives, settlement, and more. Contributors from jurisdictions with robust class or multi-party litigation outside Europe, i.e., Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, and the United States, offer additional perspectives on collective litigation.
Beyond the national coverage, opening chapters present the evolution of collective redress in Europe, providing historical context, and an in-depth assessment of the Representative Actions Directive. A closing chapter on policy issues rounds out the work discussing the objectives and dimensions of achieving collective justice. Practitioners across the aisle, academics, and all interested in the field will find it a comprehensive resource.
Collective Litigation in Europe: Law and Practice – in print or PDF– is available for purchase at www.jurispub.com.
CONTENTS
About the Editors
About the Contributors
INTRODUCTION TO COLLECTIVE LITIGATION IN EUROPE
Mary E. Bartkus, Magdalena Tulibacka, István Varga, Stefaan Voet
PART ONE: THE EUROPEAN UNION
Chapter 1 The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union
Christopher Hodges, Magdalena Tulibacka, and Herbert Woopen
Chapter 2 Assessing the EU Representative Actions Directive: Looking Beyond and Looking Ahead
Magdalena Tulibacka and Stefaan Voet
PART TWO: THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES
Chapter 1 AUSTRIA
Stefan Albiez and Christian Klausegger
Chapter 2 BELGIUM
Emilie De Baere
Chapter 3 BULGARIA
Assen Georgiev and Yana Antonova-Kyoseva
Chapter 4 CROATIA
Alan Uzelac
Chapter 5 CYPRUS
Evangelia Hadjineophytou
Chapter 6 CZECH REPUBLIC
Robert Pavlů and Jiří Rahm
Chapter 7 DENMARK
Søren Henriksen and Benedicte Westergren Hendel
Chapter 8 ESTONIA
Carri Ginter
Chapter 9 FINLAND
Johan Pråhl
Chapter 10 FRANCE
Maria-Jose Azar-Baud
Chapter 11 GERMANY
Matthias M. Schweiger
Chapter 12 GREECE
Dimitris Emvalomenos
Chapter 13 HUNGARY
István Varga
Chapter 14 IRELAND
Imogen McGrath, Joanelle O’Cleirigh, and Kate O’Donohoe
Chapter 15 ITALY
Stefano Passeri
Chapter 16 LATVIA
Valts Nerets and Artūrs Kazāks
Chapter 17 LITHUANIA
Rūta Jasilionė and Miroslav Nosevič
Chapter 18 LUXEMBOURG
Vincent Richard
Chapter 19 MALTA
Paul Micallef Grimaud, Philip Formosa, and Michela Galea
Chapter 20 NETHERLANDS
Daan Beenders and Machteld de Monchy-Jansen
Chapter 21 POLAND
Agnieszka Trzaska-Śmieszek and Magdalena Tulibacka
Chapter 22 PORTUGAL
Frederico Gonçalves Pereira and Joana Neves
Chapter 23 ROMANIA
Ioana Hrisafi-Josan
Chapter 24 SLOVAKIA
Richard Macko and Beata Ramljakova
Chapter 25 SLOVENIA
Aleš Galič and Ana Vlahek
Chapter 26 SPAIN
Alex Ferreres
Chapter 27 SWEDEN
Eva Storskrubb
PART THREE: THE UNITED KINGDOM
Chapter 1 ENGLAND AND WALES
James Norris-Jones and Julia Kelsoe
Chapter 2 SCOTLAND
Joanna Fulton and Pauline McCulloch
PART FOUR: THE EFTA STATES
Chapter 1 IICELAND
Eiríkur Elís Thorláksson and Sindri M. Stephensen
Chapter 2 LIECHTENSTEIN
Alexander Amann and Simone Wetzel
Chapter 3 NORWAY
Maria Astrup Hjort
Chapter 4 SWITZERLAND
Felix Dasser
PART FIVE: VIEWS FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS
Chapter 1 A VIEW FROM AUSTRALIA
Alexandra Rose and Colin Loveday -- Clayton Utz
Chapter 2 A VIEW FROM BRAZIL
Sérgio Pinheiro Marçal – Almeida e Marçal
Chapter 3 A VIEW FROM CANADA
Catherine Beagan Flood, Jill M. Lawrie, and Laura Dougan
Chapter 4 A VIEW FROM ISRAEL
Israel (Reli) Leshem, Ron Peleg, and Noam Gilon
Chapter 5 A VIEW FROM JAPAN
Akihiro Hironaka
Chapter 6 A VIEW FROM THE UNITED STATES
Derek J.T. Adler and Fara Tabatabai
PART SIX: POLICY ISSUES – THREE OBJECTIVES AND SEVEN DIMENSIONS OF COLLECTIVE JUSTICE
Christopher Hodges and Herbert Woopen
APPENDIX Guidance for Contributors of National Chapters in Parts Two, Three, and Four of the Book
ABOUT THE EDITORS
MARY E. BARTKUS is Special Counsel at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York. Previously, she was Executive Director and Senior Counsel to Merck & Co., Inc., responsible for the company’s international litigation and arbitration, including multijurisdictional and cross border class, group, and other multi-party and complex litigation in jurisdictions worldwide, including litigation in many jurisdictions throughout Europe. She is a member of the New Jersey and New York bars and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the District of Columbia; the United States Courts of Appeal for the Second, Third, Federal, District of Columbia, and Ninth Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court.
Ms. Bartkus is a Master of the Bench and a former Director of The John C. Lifland American Inn of Court, which focuses on intellectual property and federal practice in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is an arbitrator and a member of the American Arbitration Association – International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) International, Commercial, and Life Sciences Panels of Arbitrators. She holds a J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law – Newark and a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in Philosophy from Kean College of New Jersey (Kean University).
She delivered a series of nine lectures on the history of the global Vioxx litigation at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest and lectured at Emory University School of Law on multijurisdictional product litigation in the European Union and on dispute avoidance and resolution in international business transactions. Her publications include chapters on Injunctions in the Third Circuit published annually in the earliest editions of New Jersey Federal Civil Procedure (New Jersey Law Journal / American Law Media Books), Do Collective Redress Mechanisms Deliver Justice? in Delivering Justice: A Holistic and Multidisciplinary Approach, Liber Amicorum in Honour of Christopher Hodges (Hart Publishing 2022), Dispute Resolution Provisions in Life Sciences Agreements, 75:2 Disp. Resol. J. 1 (Nov. 2020), and The Cost to Society of Pharmaceutical Mass Tort Litigation, a lecture for the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society at Wolfson College, University of Oxford available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3402725.
MAGDALENA TULIBACKA is Director of The Center for International and Comparative Law at Emory University School of Law School in Atlanta, where she is Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice, teaching and researching European, international, and comparative law and policy. Dr. Tulibacka holds a PhD in Law (2004, Westminster University, London) and a Magister Iuris degree in Polish Law (1998, University of Nicolas Copernicus, Toruń, Poland). After completing her PhD studies in London, she joined the University of Oxford's Centre for Socio-Legal Studies as a post-doc and later became research fellow at the Centre and a member of the University of Oxford’s Congregation. She was then appointed Senior Lecturer in European and Comparative Law at the University of Westminster Law School in London.
Dr. Tulibacka teaches EU law, public international law, comparative law, European and comparative product liability law, European, international and comparative consumer law, European, international and comparative access to justice, ADR, international business transactions, and business law. She taught at the University of Oxford, the University of Westminster, the Warsaw and Cracow Universities in Poland, the Academy of European Law in Trier, and other academic institutions. She wrote, co-wrote, and edited a number of books on comparative product liability law, global class actions, comparative costs of litigation, and Polish tort law. Her other academic publications cover EU law, EU consumer law, EU product liability law, Polish consumer and contract law, harmonization of civil procedures by the EU, and ADR. She participated in pan-European and global comparative research projects, spoke at international legal and corporate conferences, trained European civil servants, advised the European Parliament and European Commission on civil procedure, consumer law and collective redress, and advised multi-national corporations on European Union law and policy.
As a Polish law expert, she was a member of several groups of scholars working on foundations for harmonized EU law: the Common Core group (product liability law), the University of Bielefeld Consumer Acquis Study, and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law Unfair Commercial Practices Study. She was a member of the Comparative Law Committee of the Civil Justice Council (advisory body to UK Ministry of Justice), and a member of the advisory panel of UK Government’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (review of English consumer law). Currently she is participating in the Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law Luxembourg project on Comparative Procedure Law and Justice.
ISTVAN VARGA is a professor and head of the Department of Civil Procedure Law at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE Faculty of Law) in Budapest, the head of the law firm at PROVARIS Varga & Partners, and the head of the firm's civil litigation and arbitration group. Between 2013 and 2016 he was a member and scientific secretary of the Main Committee for the Codification of Civil Procedure, one of the developers of the Expert Proposal of the new Code of Civil Procedure, and the creator of the Permanent Arbitration Rules of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2011-2012 Prof. Dr. Varga was a senior professor at the Academy of International Law in The Hague. He authored a monograph on comparative procedural law and arbitration law, which was awarded first prize by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 2006. He was a member of several jurisprudence analysis groups of the Curia, and between 1998 and 2003 was an advisor to the second President of the Constitutional Court. In addition to his domestic legal and academic activities, Prof. Dr. Varga is an honorary professor at the University of Leipzig, a member of the ELI-UNIDROIT working group preparing the text of the European Model Law on Civil Procedure, editor and co-author of leading commentaries on civil procedure and arbitration law published in Hungarian, German and English-speaking countries, a regular speaker at foreign litigation conferences, arbitrator of several foreign and international arbitral tribunals, arbitrator at numerous Hungarian and international arbitration courts, and Hungary’s appointed arbitrator at the Washington DC based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID, Washington DC). Prof Dr Varga has also acted as a representative in a number of cases of major importance before Hungarian courts including the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Prof. Dr. Varga holds a Habilitation degree from ELTE Faculty of Law (2010), a PhD in law from Universität des Saarlandes (2005), a diploma in law from ELTE Faculty of Law (1997) and a degree in German linguistics and literature from ELTE Faculty of Arts (1997).
STEFAAN VOET is a professor of civil procedure at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium and a host professor at the University of Hasselt. Stefaan studied law at Ghent University (2001), and in 2011 wrote his PhD thesis about complex litigation in Belgium, for which he received the Triannual Price of Civil Procedure awarded in 2014 by the vzw Algemene Modellenverzameling voor de Rechtspraktijk. His publications include C Hodges and S Voet, Delivering Collective Redress. New Technologies, Hart Publishing 2018 and A Uzelac and S Voet (eds), Class Actions in Europe. Holy Grail or a Wrong Trail?, Springer 2021. Dr. Voet was a visiting scholar at the University of Houston (2009) and Stanford Law School (2014). He was a visiting lecturer/professor at the University of Houston, SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, University of Tennessee, Syracuse University, China-EU School of Law in Beijing, University of Pavia, University of Pretoria and EMARF (Escola da Magistratura Regional Federal da 2E Regiao) in Rio de Janeiro. In 2016-2017 he held the TPR (Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht) Chair at the University of Utrecht (Molengraaff Institute for Private Law). In 2020 he was an external scientific fellow at the (former) Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law.
Dr. Voet is a member of different working groups of the European Law Institute. He was involved in a number of studies for the European Commission, as the author of the 2022 academic report on the 2013 Consumer ADR Directive and as a national reporter for the 2025 Study on Mapping Third Party Litigation Funding in the European Union. Stefaan is also a substitute justice of the peace in Bruges, a member of the board of directors of Ombudsfin (the Belgian Financial Ombudsman) and a practicing lawyer. In 2025, he was appointed by the Dutch State Secretary of Legal Protection to revise the mediation landscape in the Netherlands.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
Derek J.T. Adler (Co-author A View from the United States) is a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York. His practice focuses on complex international commercial disputes and related US criminal/regulatory matters.
Stefan Albiez (Co-author Austria) is a partner at Binder Grösswang in Vienna and a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Team, with more than 20 years of experience representing clients in civil and criminal proceedings.
Alexander Amann (Co-author Liechtenstein) is Managing Partner and founder at Amann Partners in Liechtenstein, providing legal advice and representation in civil and criminal disputes in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria.
Yana Antonova-Kvoseva (Co-author Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian-qualified attorney-at-law and a Senior Associate at CMS Sofia, specializing in litigation and alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and negotiation.
Maria- José Azar-Baud (France) is Associate Professor at University of Paris-Saclay and lecturer at several international universities teaching class actions, consumer law, procedural law and comparative law. She is a member of the Bars of Paris and of Buenos Aires, founded the Observatory of Group Actions and other forms of Collective Redress, and advises European institutions, NGOs, Claims administrators, and Third-party funders on comparative Collective Redress.
Mary E. Bartkus (Co-editor; co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe) is Special Counsel at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York. Previously, she was Executive Director and Senior Counsel to Merck & Co., Inc., responsible for the company’s international litigation and arbitration, including multijurisdictional and cross border class, group, and other multi-party and complex litigation in jurisdictions worldwide, including litigation in many jurisdictions throughout Europe.
Daan Beenders (Co-author The Netherlands) is a partner and Head of Litigation at Van Doorne N.V. in Amsterdam, specializing in commercial and mass claim litigation. He has represented leading corporations in both domestic and multi-jurisdictional complex matters and has been involved in various mass claim cases.
Benjamin Clément (Co-author Switzerland) holds a Ph.D. in Law (s.c.l.) from the University of Lucerne, where he also obtained his Master of Law (m.c.l.), as well as an LL.M. from the University of Sydney. He is admitted to practice before all Swiss courts.
Felix Dasser (Co-author Switzerland) is a senior member and former head of the Dispute Resolution Practice of the Swiss law firm Homburger AG. He has more than 30 years of experience with a focus on litigation and arbitration of international commercial and investment disputes as well as internal and regulatory investigations. He has been President of the Swiss Arbitration Association since 2020.
Emile De Baere (Belgium) is a Partner and leads the Corporate Law team at De Groote - De Man in Ghent, Belgium. Her practice includes complex corporate law disputes with a particular focus on company law.
Machteld de Monchy-Jansen (Co-author The Netherlands) is a partner at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in Amsterdam, heads the firm’s commercial litigation practice, and specializes in mass claims and follow-on damages litigation. Acting on behalf of national and international companies in all types of litigation, she has broad experience at all levels of the judiciary in the Netherlands, including the Supreme Court.
Laura Dougan (Co-author A View from Canada) is Legal Director, Global Litigation, Disputes & Risk, at Celestica in Toronto, a leader in design, manufacturing, hardware platform and supply chain solutions with more than 40 locations across 16 countries world-wide.
Dimitris Emvalomenos (Greece) is Deputy Managing Partner at Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners LLP in Athens. With a legal career spanning nearly four decades, he specializes in commercial, credit/financial, Μ&Α, consumer, and product liability law, with extensive experience advising international and Greek clients on complex transactions and dispute resolution.
Alejandro (Alex) Ferreres Cornella (Spain) is a partner at Linklaters in Madrid, having joined the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations practice group in January 2023 from Uría Menéndez where he was a partner and headed the firm’s Dispute Resolution practice.
Catherine Beagan Flood (Co-author A View from Canada) is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) in Toronto and co-Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Toronto Litigation group. She also leads the firm’s National Cybersecurity Working Group and served on the Firm's Executive Committee from 2015 to 2020.
Philip Formosa (Co-author Malta) is a Senior Associate at Ganado Advocates in Valletta, Malta, within the firm’s intellectual property, TMT and data protection practice group.
Joanna Fulton (Co-author Scotland) is a partner at Burness Paull LLP, heads the firm’s Dispute Resolution team and leads the Band 1 ranked product liability team at the firm. She is a specialist in high-profile, multi-party, cross-border litigation in Scotland, in particular group litigation.
Michela Galea (Co-author Malta) is an Advocate at Ganado Advocates in Valletta, Malta, within the firm’s Intellectual Property, TMT and Data Protection practice group. She provides support to clients on a wide range of IP matters, including securing IP protection, enforcing IP rights, and defending IP-based claims.
Aleš Galič (Co-author Slovenia) is a full professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, with main teaching and research interests in civil procedure, private international law, arbitration, and ADR.
Assen Georgiev (Co-author Bulgaria) is a partner at CMS in Sofia, and heads the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration, Insurance, and Employment practice. He is a Bulgarian-qualified attorney-at-law with more than 20 years of experience, specializing in litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and regulatory matters.
Noam Gilon (Co-author A View from Israel) is a litigation partner at Meitar, Law Offices, in Ramat Gan. He represents foreign and domestic clients in a broad range of complex civil and commercial litigation cases, and specializes in class action defense, with an emphasis on product liability, regulation, compliance, and consumer protection.
Carri Ginter (Estonia) As an associate professor of EU law at the University of Tartu, Dr. Carri Ginter has been twice honored as Lecturer of the Year and awarded a medal for his significant long-term contributions to the university's development.
Paul Micallef Grimaud (Co-author Malta) is a Partner at Ganado Advocates in Valletta, Malta, and heads the firm’s intellectual property, TMT and data protection practice group.
Evangelia Hadjineophytou (Cyprus) is a Senior Associate in the Corporate and Dispute Resolution Department at Harris Kyriakides in Cyprus. She represents foreign and domestic clients in court proceedings and has extensive experience in civil, corporate, and commercial litigation.
Benedicte Westergren Hendel (Co-author Denmark) is an attorney-at-law at Gorrissen Federspiel in Copenhagen.
Søren Henriksen (Co-author Denmark) is an attorney-at-law and partner at Gorrissen Federspiel in Copenhagen. He has advised on high-profile management liability cases involving multiple defendants, one of the largest ever securities litigations in Denmark brought as a mass action through joinder, and commercial mass claims.
Akihiro Hironaka (A View from Japan) is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi (Gaikokuho Kyodo Jigyo) in Tokyo. He has extensive experience handling complex multi-party disputes, including product liability and mass tort claims, in the pharmaceutical, automotive, and other industries.
Maria Astrup Hjort (Norway) is a professor of law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, and the Vice-Dean for Studies. She is engaged in civil procedure, ethics, and legal history, and has a doctoral thesis from 2015 on digital evidence.
Christopher Hodges OBE PhD FSALS FRSA (Co-author The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union and co-author Policy Issues – Three Objectives and Seven Dimensions of Collective Justice) is Emeritus Professor of Justice Systems at Oxford University. He advises governments, regulators, ombuds, and businesses around the globe on regulatory and dispute resolution systems. He chairs various UK Government Advisory Boards.
Ioana Hrisafi-Josan (Romania) is a partner at Tuca Zbârcea & Associatii in Bucharest. She co-heads the firm's litigation and arbitration practice group and has represented clients in a wide range of contentious administrative litigation cases, especially complex tax, and competition disputes, and in litigation concerning permits and authorization in telecommunications sectors.
Rūta Jasilionė (Co-author, Lithuania) is an associate partner at Ellex Valiunas in Vilnius and co-head of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Group. Her practice spans a broad range of domestic and cross-border commercial litigation, with a strong focus on professional civil liability and class actions.
Artūrs Kazāks (Co-author Latvia) is an Associate at Sorainen Law Firm in Latvia. He specializes in cross-border disputes, litigation, and arbitration, focusing mainly on trade, investment, and transport matters.
Julia Kelsoe (Co-author England & Wales) is an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in London, UK, where her practice focuses on English and international commercial dispute resolution. She has experience in High Court litigation, competition litigation before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, and international arbitration under various institutional rules.
Christian Klausegger (Co-author Austria) has been a partner in the Dispute Resolution Team of Binder Grösswang in Vienna since 1995 and has over 30 years of experience in handling international disputes before state courts and arbitral tribunals. His experience includes the representation of defendants in numerous mass claims.
Jill M. Lawrie (Co-author A View from Canada) is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) in Toronto and co-leads the firm's Consumer Protection group.
Israel (Reli) Leshem (Co-author A View from Israel) is a co-founder of Meitar, Law Offices, in Ramat Gan. Dr. Leshem is considered one of the leading experts on civil procedure and commercial arbitration in Israel and holds an S.J.D degree from Harvard Law School.
Colin Loveday (Co-author A View from Australia) is a consultant at Clayton Utz in Sydney. He is a senior and influential life sciences litigator renowned for his pioneering expertise in the defense of class actions, product liability and highly complex commercial disputes. Colin Loveday has defended some of Australia's highest profile complex consumer product and financial services matters across the medical, pharmaceutical, financial and consumer sectors.
Richard Macko (Co-author Slovakia) is a Senior Associate at A&O Shearman in Bratislava. He has been recognized as a Leading Associate in Dispute Resolution by the Legal 500 since 2024 and represents both corporate and private clients in their high-stake matters at trial and on appeal, including before the Slovak Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.
Sérgio Pinheiro Marçal (A View from Brazil) is a partner at Almeida & Marçal in Sao Paolo, with extensive experience in strategic contentious and civil advisory law. He was a partner at Pinheiro Neto Advogados for 30 years (1996–2024), specializing in dispute resolution, particularly consumer relations.
Pauline McCulloch (Co-author Scotland) is a Director at Burness Paull LLP and a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution team. Her practice focuses on advising consumer facing businesses including in the pharma, medical device, automotive, technology and food and drink sectors.
Imogen McGrath SC (Co-author Ireland) is a Senior Counsel barrister practicing at the Bar of Ireland in Dublin. She practices in product liability as well as in broader commercial type litigation and has represented a number of defendants in pathfinder litigation.
Valts Nerets (Co-author Latvia) is a Partner at Sorainen Law Firm in Latvia. His primary focus is on cross-border disputes and international trade issues. He is one of the few experts in transport and maritime law in the Latvian market and has a deep passion for international investment law.
Joana Neves (Co-author Portugal) is Managing Associate for the Litigation & Arbitration practice group at Vieira de Almeida in Lisbon. Her practice focuses on commercial and investment arbitration (national and international) as well as civil and commercial litigation, covering Portugal and jurisdictions in Portuguese-speaking countries, notably Angola and Cabo Verde.
James Norris-Jones (Co-author England & Wales) is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in London, UK with more than 20 years’ experience of English and international commercial dispute resolution, including litigation, arbitration, investigations, and enforcement.
Miroslav Nosevič (Co-author Lithuania) is a partner and co-head of the Dispute Resolution practice at Ellex Valiunas in Vilnius, with extensive experience in litigation and international arbitration. He specializes in cross-border litigation with a focus on banking and finance, real estate, and construction disputes.
Joanelle O’Cleirigh (Co-author Ireland) is a Partner in the Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations Group at Arthur Cox LLP in Dublin.
Kate O’Donohoe (Co-author Ireland) is Of Counsel in the Litigation, Dispute Resolution, and Investigations Group at Arthur Cox LLP in Dublin.
Stefano Passeri (Italy) is Counsel at Chiomenti Studio Legale in Milan, where he advises and represents both national and international clients in complex civil, corporate, and commercial disputes before courts and arbitral tribunals.
Robert Pavlů (Co-author Czech Republic) is a counsel at A&O Shearman in Prague. He represents clients in Czech courts, arbitration, and administrative proceedings. He is an arbitrator at the Prague Stock Exchange Arbitration Court.
Ron Peleg (Co-author A View from Israel) is a litigation partner at Meitar, Law Offices, in Ramat Gan and heads the product liability practice. He regularly defends multinational companies in complex litigation, particularly in product liability cases and class actions, specializing in the fields of pharmaceutical law and automotive law.
Frederico Gonçalves Pereira (Co-author Portugal) is a partner at Vieira de Almeida in Lisbon and is the firm’s Disputes & Restructuring Group Executive Partner and Litigation & Arbitration Partner. He has more than 30 years’ experience in civil litigation and pre-litigation, as well as in corporate restructurings and insolvencies.
Johan Pråhl (Finland) is a Senior Advisor at HPP Attorneys Ltd in Helsinki. He advises and represents clients in all litigation and arbitration proceedings, as well as in market court and administrative court proceedings. He frequently assists clients in court proceedings relating to occupational safety and environmental matters.
Jiří Rahm (Co-author Czech Republic) is a senior associate at A&O Shearman in Prague. He specializes in insolvency, restructuring and client representation in litigation and arbitration in the Czech Republic and abroad.
Beáta Ramljakova (Co-author Slovakia) is an associate in the litigation department at A&O Shearman in Bratislava. Her primary areas of practice as a junior lawyer include international arbitration, administrative and commercial litigation as well as pro bono cases.
Vincent Richard (Luxembourg) is a litigation lawyer at Wurth Kinsch Olinger in Luxembourg, specializing in private international law, procedural law, and consumer law.
Alexandra Rose (Co-author A View from Australia) is a partner at Clayton Utz in Sydney. Recognized as a leading litigator with expertise in the automotive, health, consumer goods, and financial services sectors.
Matthias M. Schweiger (Germany) is a partner at Hogan Lovells International LLP in Munich.
Sindri M. Stephensen (Co-author Iceland) has served as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Reykjavík University, since 2019. Prior to his academic tenure, he practiced as an attorney and held the position of legal secretary at the EFTA Court.
Eva Storskrubb (Sweden) is Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Procedural Law at Uppsala University.
Fara Tabatabai (Co-author A View from the United States) is a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York focusing on complex commercial, products liability, and antitrust litigation and arbitration.
Eiríkur Elís Thorláksson (Co-author Iceland) has served as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of Reykjavik University since 2017.
Agnieszka Trzaska-Śmieszek (Co-author Poland) is a partner at KKG Legal Kubas Kos Gałkowski in Poland and leads the firm’s Group Proceedings Practice. She is an expert in class actions and dispute resolution, and the editor-in-chief of ClassAction.pl, a portal dedicated to analyzing group proceedings in Poland and worldwide.
Magdalena Tulibacka (Co-editor; Co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe; co-author The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union, co-author Assessing the EU Representative Actions Directive: Looking Beyond and Looking Ahead, and co-author Poland) is Director of The Center for International and Comparative Law at Emory University School of Law School in Atlanta, where she is Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice, teaching and researching European, international, and comparative law and policy.
Alan Uzelac (Croatia) is Head of Department for Civil Procedure at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, and Founding Member of the CEPEJ. Prof. Dr. Alan Uzelac is an Honorary Council member of the International Association of Procedural Law and a Member of the Council of the German Association for International Procedural Law.
István Varga (Co-editor; Co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe; Author Hungary) is a professor and head of the Department of Civil Procedure Law at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE Faculty of Law) in Budapest, the head of the law firm at PROVARIS Varga & Partners, and the head of the firm's civil litigation and arbitration group.
Ana Vlahek (Co-author Slovenia) is an Associate Professor of Civil and Commercial Law and an Associate Professor of European Law at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Law.
Stefaan Voet (Co-Editor; Co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe; co-author Assessing the EU Representative Actions Directive: Looking Beyond and Looking Ahead) is a professor of civil procedure at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium and a host professor at the University of Hasselt. He is a member of different working groups of the European Law Institute.
Simone Wetzel (Co-author Liechtenstein) is an Associate at Amann Partners in Liechtenstein, having joined the firm in 2023.
Herbert Woopen (Co-author The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union and co-author Policy Issues – Three Objectives And Seven Dimensions Of Collective Justice) has served as Director of Legal Policy for the European Justice Forum (EJF) in Brussels since January 2021. Throughout his career, Dr. Woopen has authored numerous articles and participated in Commission consultations related to EJF civil justice topics, particularly those involving collective actions. His contributions have significantly shaped EJF legal policies and thus have had an impact on the future of civil justice in Europe.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
MARY E. BARTKUS is Special Counsel at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York. Previously, she was Executive Director and Senior Counsel to Merck & Co., Inc., responsible for the company’s international litigation and arbitration, including multijurisdictional and cross border class, group, and other multi-party and complex litigation in jurisdictions worldwide, including litigation in many jurisdictions throughout Europe. She is a member of the New Jersey and New York bars and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the District of Columbia; the United States Courts of Appeal for the Second, Third, Federal, District of Columbia, and Ninth Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court.
Ms. Bartkus is a Master of the Bench and a former Director of The John C. Lifland American Inn of Court, which focuses on intellectual property and federal practice in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is an arbitrator and a member of the American Arbitration Association – International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) International, Commercial, and Life Sciences Panels of Arbitrators. She holds a J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law – Newark and a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in Philosophy from Kean College of New Jersey (Kean University).
She delivered a series of nine lectures on the history of the global Vioxx litigation at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest and lectured at Emory University School of Law on multijurisdictional product litigation in the European Union and on dispute avoidance and resolution in international business transactions. Her publications include chapters on Injunctions in the Third Circuit published annually in the earliest editions of New Jersey Federal Civil Procedure (New Jersey Law Journal / American Law Media Books), Do Collective Redress Mechanisms Deliver Justice? in Delivering Justice: A Holistic and Multidisciplinary Approach, Liber Amicorum in Honour of Christopher Hodges (Hart Publishing 2022), Dispute Resolution Provisions in Life Sciences Agreements, 75:2 Disp. Resol. J. 1 (Nov. 2020), and The Cost to Society of Pharmaceutical Mass Tort Litigation, a lecture for the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society at Wolfson College, University of Oxford available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3402725.
MAGDALENA TULIBACKA is Director of The Center for International and Comparative Law at Emory University School of Law School in Atlanta, where she is Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice, teaching and researching European, international, and comparative law and policy. Dr. Tulibacka holds a PhD in Law (2004, Westminster University, London) and a Magister Iuris degree in Polish Law (1998, University of Nicolas Copernicus, Toruń, Poland). After completing her PhD studies in London, she joined the University of Oxford's Centre for Socio-Legal Studies as a post-doc and later became research fellow at the Centre and a member of the University of Oxford’s Congregation. She was then appointed Senior Lecturer in European and Comparative Law at the University of Westminster Law School in London.
Dr. Tulibacka teaches EU law, public international law, comparative law, European and comparative product liability law, European, international and comparative consumer law, European, international and comparative access to justice, ADR, international business transactions, and business law. She taught at the University of Oxford, the University of Westminster, the Warsaw and Cracow Universities in Poland, the Academy of European Law in Trier, and other academic institutions. She wrote, co-wrote, and edited a number of books on comparative product liability law, global class actions, comparative costs of litigation, and Polish tort law. Her other academic publications cover EU law, EU consumer law, EU product liability law, Polish consumer and contract law, harmonization of civil procedures by the EU, and ADR. She participated in pan-European and global comparative research projects, spoke at international legal and corporate conferences, trained European civil servants, advised the European Parliament and European Commission on civil procedure, consumer law and collective redress, and advised multi-national corporations on European Union law and policy.
As a Polish law expert, she was a member of several groups of scholars working on foundations for harmonized EU law: the Common Core group (product liability law), the University of Bielefeld Consumer Acquis Study, and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law Unfair Commercial Practices Study. She was a member of the Comparative Law Committee of the Civil Justice Council (advisory body to UK Ministry of Justice), and a member of the advisory panel of UK Government’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (review of English consumer law). Currently she is participating in the Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law Luxembourg project on Comparative Procedure Law and Justice.
ISTVAN VARGA is a professor and head of the Department of Civil Procedure Law at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE Faculty of Law) in Budapest, the head of the law firm at PROVARIS Varga & Partners, and the head of the firm's civil litigation and arbitration group. Between 2013 and 2016 he was a member and scientific secretary of the Main Committee for the Codification of Civil Procedure, one of the developers of the Expert Proposal of the new Code of Civil Procedure, and the creator of the Permanent Arbitration Rules of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2011-2012 Prof. Dr. Varga was a senior professor at the Academy of International Law in The Hague. He authored a monograph on comparative procedural law and arbitration law, which was awarded first prize by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 2006. He was a member of several jurisprudence analysis groups of the Curia, and between 1998 and 2003 was an advisor to the second President of the Constitutional Court. In addition to his domestic legal and academic activities, Prof. Dr. Varga is an honorary professor at the University of Leipzig, a member of the ELI-UNIDROIT working group preparing the text of the European Model Law on Civil Procedure, editor and co-author of leading commentaries on civil procedure and arbitration law published in Hungarian, German and English-speaking countries, a regular speaker at foreign litigation conferences, arbitrator of several foreign and international arbitral tribunals, arbitrator at numerous Hungarian and international arbitration courts, and Hungary’s appointed arbitrator at the Washington DC based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID, Washington DC). Prof Dr Varga has also acted as a representative in a number of cases of major importance before Hungarian courts including the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Prof. Dr. Varga holds a Habilitation degree from ELTE Faculty of Law (2010), a PhD in law from Universität des Saarlandes (2005), a diploma in law from ELTE Faculty of Law (1997) and a degree in German linguistics and literature from ELTE Faculty of Arts (1997).
STEFAAN VOET is a professor of civil procedure at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium and a host professor at the University of Hasselt. Stefaan studied law at Ghent University (2001), and in 2011 wrote his PhD thesis about complex litigation in Belgium, for which he received the Triannual Price of Civil Procedure awarded in 2014 by the vzw Algemene Modellenverzameling voor de Rechtspraktijk. His publications include C Hodges and S Voet, Delivering Collective Redress. New Technologies, Hart Publishing 2018 and A Uzelac and S Voet (eds), Class Actions in Europe. Holy Grail or a Wrong Trail?, Springer 2021. Dr. Voet was a visiting scholar at the University of Houston (2009) and Stanford Law School (2014). He was a visiting lecturer/professor at the University of Houston, SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, University of Tennessee, Syracuse University, China-EU School of Law in Beijing, University of Pavia, University of Pretoria and EMARF (Escola da Magistratura Regional Federal da 2E Regiao) in Rio de Janeiro. In 2016-2017 he held the TPR (Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht) Chair at the University of Utrecht (Molengraaff Institute for Private Law). In 2020 he was an external scientific fellow at the (former) Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law.
Dr. Voet is a member of different working groups of the European Law Institute. He was involved in a number of studies for the European Commission, as the author of the 2022 academic report on the 2013 Consumer ADR Directive and as a national reporter for the 2025 Study on Mapping Third Party Litigation Funding in the European Union. Stefaan is also a substitute justice of the peace in Bruges, a member of the board of directors of Ombudsfin (the Belgian Financial Ombudsman) and a practicing lawyer. In 2025, he was appointed by the Dutch State Secretary of Legal Protection to revise the mediation landscape in the Netherlands.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
Derek J.T. Adler (Co-author A View from the United States) is a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York. His practice focuses on complex international commercial disputes and related US criminal/regulatory matters.
Stefan Albiez (Co-author Austria) is a partner at Binder Grösswang in Vienna and a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Team, with more than 20 years of experience representing clients in civil and criminal proceedings.
Alexander Amann (Co-author Liechtenstein) is Managing Partner and founder at Amann Partners in Liechtenstein, providing legal advice and representation in civil and criminal disputes in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria.
Yana Antonova-Kvoseva (Co-author Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian-qualified attorney-at-law and a Senior Associate at CMS Sofia, specializing in litigation and alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and negotiation.
Maria- José Azar-Baud (France) is Associate Professor at University of Paris-Saclay and lecturer at several international universities teaching class actions, consumer law, procedural law and comparative law. She is a member of the Bars of Paris and of Buenos Aires, founded the Observatory of Group Actions and other forms of Collective Redress, and advises European institutions, NGOs, Claims administrators, and Third-party funders on comparative Collective Redress.
Mary E. Bartkus (Co-editor; co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe) is Special Counsel at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York. Previously, she was Executive Director and Senior Counsel to Merck & Co., Inc., responsible for the company’s international litigation and arbitration, including multijurisdictional and cross border class, group, and other multi-party and complex litigation in jurisdictions worldwide, including litigation in many jurisdictions throughout Europe.
Daan Beenders (Co-author The Netherlands) is a partner and Head of Litigation at Van Doorne N.V. in Amsterdam, specializing in commercial and mass claim litigation. He has represented leading corporations in both domestic and multi-jurisdictional complex matters and has been involved in various mass claim cases.
Benjamin Clément (Co-author Switzerland) holds a Ph.D. in Law (s.c.l.) from the University of Lucerne, where he also obtained his Master of Law (m.c.l.), as well as an LL.M. from the University of Sydney. He is admitted to practice before all Swiss courts.
Felix Dasser (Co-author Switzerland) is a senior member and former head of the Dispute Resolution Practice of the Swiss law firm Homburger AG. He has more than 30 years of experience with a focus on litigation and arbitration of international commercial and investment disputes as well as internal and regulatory investigations. He has been President of the Swiss Arbitration Association since 2020.
Emile De Baere (Belgium) is a Partner and leads the Corporate Law team at De Groote - De Man in Ghent, Belgium. Her practice includes complex corporate law disputes with a particular focus on company law.
Machteld de Monchy-Jansen (Co-author The Netherlands) is a partner at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in Amsterdam, heads the firm’s commercial litigation practice, and specializes in mass claims and follow-on damages litigation. Acting on behalf of national and international companies in all types of litigation, she has broad experience at all levels of the judiciary in the Netherlands, including the Supreme Court.
Laura Dougan (Co-author A View from Canada) is Legal Director, Global Litigation, Disputes & Risk, at Celestica in Toronto, a leader in design, manufacturing, hardware platform and supply chain solutions with more than 40 locations across 16 countries world-wide.
Dimitris Emvalomenos (Greece) is Deputy Managing Partner at Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners LLP in Athens. With a legal career spanning nearly four decades, he specializes in commercial, credit/financial, Μ&Α, consumer, and product liability law, with extensive experience advising international and Greek clients on complex transactions and dispute resolution.
Alejandro (Alex) Ferreres Cornella (Spain) is a partner at Linklaters in Madrid, having joined the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations practice group in January 2023 from Uría Menéndez where he was a partner and headed the firm’s Dispute Resolution practice.
Catherine Beagan Flood (Co-author A View from Canada) is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) in Toronto and co-Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Toronto Litigation group. She also leads the firm’s National Cybersecurity Working Group and served on the Firm's Executive Committee from 2015 to 2020.
Philip Formosa (Co-author Malta) is a Senior Associate at Ganado Advocates in Valletta, Malta, within the firm’s intellectual property, TMT and data protection practice group.
Joanna Fulton (Co-author Scotland) is a partner at Burness Paull LLP, heads the firm’s Dispute Resolution team and leads the Band 1 ranked product liability team at the firm. She is a specialist in high-profile, multi-party, cross-border litigation in Scotland, in particular group litigation.
Michela Galea (Co-author Malta) is an Advocate at Ganado Advocates in Valletta, Malta, within the firm’s Intellectual Property, TMT and Data Protection practice group. She provides support to clients on a wide range of IP matters, including securing IP protection, enforcing IP rights, and defending IP-based claims.
Aleš Galič (Co-author Slovenia) is a full professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, with main teaching and research interests in civil procedure, private international law, arbitration, and ADR.
Assen Georgiev (Co-author Bulgaria) is a partner at CMS in Sofia, and heads the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration, Insurance, and Employment practice. He is a Bulgarian-qualified attorney-at-law with more than 20 years of experience, specializing in litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and regulatory matters.
Noam Gilon (Co-author A View from Israel) is a litigation partner at Meitar, Law Offices, in Ramat Gan. He represents foreign and domestic clients in a broad range of complex civil and commercial litigation cases, and specializes in class action defense, with an emphasis on product liability, regulation, compliance, and consumer protection.
Carri Ginter (Estonia) As an associate professor of EU law at the University of Tartu, Dr. Carri Ginter has been twice honored as Lecturer of the Year and awarded a medal for his significant long-term contributions to the university's development.
Paul Micallef Grimaud (Co-author Malta) is a Partner at Ganado Advocates in Valletta, Malta, and heads the firm’s intellectual property, TMT and data protection practice group.
Evangelia Hadjineophytou (Cyprus) is a Senior Associate in the Corporate and Dispute Resolution Department at Harris Kyriakides in Cyprus. She represents foreign and domestic clients in court proceedings and has extensive experience in civil, corporate, and commercial litigation.
Benedicte Westergren Hendel (Co-author Denmark) is an attorney-at-law at Gorrissen Federspiel in Copenhagen.
Søren Henriksen (Co-author Denmark) is an attorney-at-law and partner at Gorrissen Federspiel in Copenhagen. He has advised on high-profile management liability cases involving multiple defendants, one of the largest ever securities litigations in Denmark brought as a mass action through joinder, and commercial mass claims.
Akihiro Hironaka (A View from Japan) is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi (Gaikokuho Kyodo Jigyo) in Tokyo. He has extensive experience handling complex multi-party disputes, including product liability and mass tort claims, in the pharmaceutical, automotive, and other industries.
Maria Astrup Hjort (Norway) is a professor of law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, and the Vice-Dean for Studies. She is engaged in civil procedure, ethics, and legal history, and has a doctoral thesis from 2015 on digital evidence.
Christopher Hodges OBE PhD FSALS FRSA (Co-author The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union and co-author Policy Issues – Three Objectives and Seven Dimensions of Collective Justice) is Emeritus Professor of Justice Systems at Oxford University. He advises governments, regulators, ombuds, and businesses around the globe on regulatory and dispute resolution systems. He chairs various UK Government Advisory Boards.
Ioana Hrisafi-Josan (Romania) is a partner at Tuca Zbârcea & Associatii in Bucharest. She co-heads the firm's litigation and arbitration practice group and has represented clients in a wide range of contentious administrative litigation cases, especially complex tax, and competition disputes, and in litigation concerning permits and authorization in telecommunications sectors.
Rūta Jasilionė (Co-author, Lithuania) is an associate partner at Ellex Valiunas in Vilnius and co-head of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Group. Her practice spans a broad range of domestic and cross-border commercial litigation, with a strong focus on professional civil liability and class actions.
Artūrs Kazāks (Co-author Latvia) is an Associate at Sorainen Law Firm in Latvia. He specializes in cross-border disputes, litigation, and arbitration, focusing mainly on trade, investment, and transport matters.
Julia Kelsoe (Co-author England & Wales) is an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in London, UK, where her practice focuses on English and international commercial dispute resolution. She has experience in High Court litigation, competition litigation before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, and international arbitration under various institutional rules.
Christian Klausegger (Co-author Austria) has been a partner in the Dispute Resolution Team of Binder Grösswang in Vienna since 1995 and has over 30 years of experience in handling international disputes before state courts and arbitral tribunals. His experience includes the representation of defendants in numerous mass claims.
Jill M. Lawrie (Co-author A View from Canada) is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) in Toronto and co-leads the firm's Consumer Protection group.
Israel (Reli) Leshem (Co-author A View from Israel) is a co-founder of Meitar, Law Offices, in Ramat Gan. Dr. Leshem is considered one of the leading experts on civil procedure and commercial arbitration in Israel and holds an S.J.D degree from Harvard Law School.
Colin Loveday (Co-author A View from Australia) is a consultant at Clayton Utz in Sydney. He is a senior and influential life sciences litigator renowned for his pioneering expertise in the defense of class actions, product liability and highly complex commercial disputes. Colin Loveday has defended some of Australia's highest profile complex consumer product and financial services matters across the medical, pharmaceutical, financial and consumer sectors.
Richard Macko (Co-author Slovakia) is a Senior Associate at A&O Shearman in Bratislava. He has been recognized as a Leading Associate in Dispute Resolution by the Legal 500 since 2024 and represents both corporate and private clients in their high-stake matters at trial and on appeal, including before the Slovak Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.
Sérgio Pinheiro Marçal (A View from Brazil) is a partner at Almeida & Marçal in Sao Paolo, with extensive experience in strategic contentious and civil advisory law. He was a partner at Pinheiro Neto Advogados for 30 years (1996–2024), specializing in dispute resolution, particularly consumer relations.
Pauline McCulloch (Co-author Scotland) is a Director at Burness Paull LLP and a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution team. Her practice focuses on advising consumer facing businesses including in the pharma, medical device, automotive, technology and food and drink sectors.
Imogen McGrath SC (Co-author Ireland) is a Senior Counsel barrister practicing at the Bar of Ireland in Dublin. She practices in product liability as well as in broader commercial type litigation and has represented a number of defendants in pathfinder litigation.
Valts Nerets (Co-author Latvia) is a Partner at Sorainen Law Firm in Latvia. His primary focus is on cross-border disputes and international trade issues. He is one of the few experts in transport and maritime law in the Latvian market and has a deep passion for international investment law.
Joana Neves (Co-author Portugal) is Managing Associate for the Litigation & Arbitration practice group at Vieira de Almeida in Lisbon. Her practice focuses on commercial and investment arbitration (national and international) as well as civil and commercial litigation, covering Portugal and jurisdictions in Portuguese-speaking countries, notably Angola and Cabo Verde.
James Norris-Jones (Co-author England & Wales) is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in London, UK with more than 20 years’ experience of English and international commercial dispute resolution, including litigation, arbitration, investigations, and enforcement.
Miroslav Nosevič (Co-author Lithuania) is a partner and co-head of the Dispute Resolution practice at Ellex Valiunas in Vilnius, with extensive experience in litigation and international arbitration. He specializes in cross-border litigation with a focus on banking and finance, real estate, and construction disputes.
Joanelle O’Cleirigh (Co-author Ireland) is a Partner in the Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations Group at Arthur Cox LLP in Dublin.
Kate O’Donohoe (Co-author Ireland) is Of Counsel in the Litigation, Dispute Resolution, and Investigations Group at Arthur Cox LLP in Dublin.
Stefano Passeri (Italy) is Counsel at Chiomenti Studio Legale in Milan, where he advises and represents both national and international clients in complex civil, corporate, and commercial disputes before courts and arbitral tribunals.
Robert Pavlů (Co-author Czech Republic) is a counsel at A&O Shearman in Prague. He represents clients in Czech courts, arbitration, and administrative proceedings. He is an arbitrator at the Prague Stock Exchange Arbitration Court.
Ron Peleg (Co-author A View from Israel) is a litigation partner at Meitar, Law Offices, in Ramat Gan and heads the product liability practice. He regularly defends multinational companies in complex litigation, particularly in product liability cases and class actions, specializing in the fields of pharmaceutical law and automotive law.
Frederico Gonçalves Pereira (Co-author Portugal) is a partner at Vieira de Almeida in Lisbon and is the firm’s Disputes & Restructuring Group Executive Partner and Litigation & Arbitration Partner. He has more than 30 years’ experience in civil litigation and pre-litigation, as well as in corporate restructurings and insolvencies.
Johan Pråhl (Finland) is a Senior Advisor at HPP Attorneys Ltd in Helsinki. He advises and represents clients in all litigation and arbitration proceedings, as well as in market court and administrative court proceedings. He frequently assists clients in court proceedings relating to occupational safety and environmental matters.
Jiří Rahm (Co-author Czech Republic) is a senior associate at A&O Shearman in Prague. He specializes in insolvency, restructuring and client representation in litigation and arbitration in the Czech Republic and abroad.
Beáta Ramljakova (Co-author Slovakia) is an associate in the litigation department at A&O Shearman in Bratislava. Her primary areas of practice as a junior lawyer include international arbitration, administrative and commercial litigation as well as pro bono cases.
Vincent Richard (Luxembourg) is a litigation lawyer at Wurth Kinsch Olinger in Luxembourg, specializing in private international law, procedural law, and consumer law.
Alexandra Rose (Co-author A View from Australia) is a partner at Clayton Utz in Sydney. Recognized as a leading litigator with expertise in the automotive, health, consumer goods, and financial services sectors.
Matthias M. Schweiger (Germany) is a partner at Hogan Lovells International LLP in Munich.
Sindri M. Stephensen (Co-author Iceland) has served as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Reykjavík University, since 2019. Prior to his academic tenure, he practiced as an attorney and held the position of legal secretary at the EFTA Court.
Eva Storskrubb (Sweden) is Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Procedural Law at Uppsala University.
Fara Tabatabai (Co-author A View from the United States) is a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York focusing on complex commercial, products liability, and antitrust litigation and arbitration.
Eiríkur Elís Thorláksson (Co-author Iceland) has served as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of Reykjavik University since 2017.
Agnieszka Trzaska-Śmieszek (Co-author Poland) is a partner at KKG Legal Kubas Kos Gałkowski in Poland and leads the firm’s Group Proceedings Practice. She is an expert in class actions and dispute resolution, and the editor-in-chief of ClassAction.pl, a portal dedicated to analyzing group proceedings in Poland and worldwide.
Magdalena Tulibacka (Co-editor; Co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe; co-author The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union, co-author Assessing the EU Representative Actions Directive: Looking Beyond and Looking Ahead, and co-author Poland) is Director of The Center for International and Comparative Law at Emory University School of Law School in Atlanta, where she is Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice, teaching and researching European, international, and comparative law and policy.
Alan Uzelac (Croatia) is Head of Department for Civil Procedure at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, and Founding Member of the CEPEJ. Prof. Dr. Alan Uzelac is an Honorary Council member of the International Association of Procedural Law and a Member of the Council of the German Association for International Procedural Law.
István Varga (Co-editor; Co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe; Author Hungary) is a professor and head of the Department of Civil Procedure Law at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE Faculty of Law) in Budapest, the head of the law firm at PROVARIS Varga & Partners, and the head of the firm's civil litigation and arbitration group.
Ana Vlahek (Co-author Slovenia) is an Associate Professor of Civil and Commercial Law and an Associate Professor of European Law at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Law.
Stefaan Voet (Co-Editor; Co-author Introduction to Collective Litigation in Europe; co-author Assessing the EU Representative Actions Directive: Looking Beyond and Looking Ahead) is a professor of civil procedure at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium and a host professor at the University of Hasselt. He is a member of different working groups of the European Law Institute.
Simone Wetzel (Co-author Liechtenstein) is an Associate at Amann Partners in Liechtenstein, having joined the firm in 2023.
Herbert Woopen (Co-author The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union and co-author Policy Issues – Three Objectives And Seven Dimensions Of Collective Justice) has served as Director of Legal Policy for the European Justice Forum (EJF) in Brussels since January 2021. Throughout his career, Dr. Woopen has authored numerous articles and participated in Commission consultations related to EJF civil justice topics, particularly those involving collective actions. His contributions have significantly shaped EJF legal policies and thus have had an impact on the future of civil justice in Europe.
Collective Litigation in Europe: Law and Practice – in print or PDF– is available for purchase at www.jurispub.com.
CONTENTS
About the Editors
About the Contributors
INTRODUCTION TO COLLECTIVE LITIGATION IN EUROPE
Mary E. Bartkus, Magdalena Tulibacka, István Varga, Stefaan Voet
PART ONE: THE EUROPEAN UNION
Chapter 1 The Development of Collective Litigation in the European Union
Christopher Hodges, Magdalena Tulibacka, and Herbert Woopen
Chapter 2 Assessing the EU Representative Actions Directive: Looking Beyond and Looking Ahead
Magdalena Tulibacka and Stefaan Voet
PART TWO: THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES
Chapter 1 AUSTRIA
Stefan Albiez and Christian Klausegger
Chapter 2 BELGIUM
Emilie De Baere
Chapter 3 BULGARIA
Assen Georgiev and Yana Antonova-Kyoseva
Chapter 4 CROATIA
Alan Uzelac
Chapter 5 CYPRUS
Evangelia Hadjineophytou
Chapter 6 CZECH REPUBLIC
Robert Pavlů and Jiří Rahm
Chapter 7 DENMARK
Søren Henriksen and Benedicte Westergren Hendel
Chapter 8 ESTONIA
Carri Ginter
Chapter 9 FINLAND
Johan Pråhl
Chapter 10 FRANCE
Maria-Jose Azar-Baud
Chapter 11 GERMANY
Matthias M. Schweiger
Chapter 12 GREECE
Dimitris Emvalomenos
Chapter 13 HUNGARY
István Varga
Chapter 14 IRELAND
Imogen McGrath, Joanelle O’Cleirigh, and Kate O’Donohoe
Chapter 15 ITALY
Stefano Passeri
Chapter 16 LATVIA
Valts Nerets and Artūrs Kazāks
Chapter 17 LITHUANIA
Rūta Jasilionė and Miroslav Nosevič
Chapter 18 LUXEMBOURG
Vincent Richard
Chapter 19 MALTA
Paul Micallef Grimaud, Philip Formosa, and Michela Galea
Chapter 20 NETHERLANDS
Daan Beenders and Machteld de Monchy-Jansen
Chapter 21 POLAND
Agnieszka Trzaska-Śmieszek and Magdalena Tulibacka
Chapter 22 PORTUGAL
Frederico Gonçalves Pereira and Joana Neves
Chapter 23 ROMANIA
Ioana Hrisafi-Josan
Chapter 24 SLOVAKIA
Richard Macko and Beata Ramljakova
Chapter 25 SLOVENIA
Aleš Galič and Ana Vlahek
Chapter 26 SPAIN
Alex Ferreres
Chapter 27 SWEDEN
Eva Storskrubb
PART THREE: THE UNITED KINGDOM
Chapter 1 ENGLAND AND WALES
James Norris-Jones and Julia Kelsoe
Chapter 2 SCOTLAND
Joanna Fulton and Pauline McCulloch
PART FOUR: THE EFTA STATES
Chapter 1 IICELAND
Eiríkur Elís Thorláksson and Sindri M. Stephensen
Chapter 2 LIECHTENSTEIN
Alexander Amann and Simone Wetzel
Chapter 3 NORWAY
Maria Astrup Hjort
Chapter 4 SWITZERLAND
Felix Dasser
PART FIVE: VIEWS FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS
Chapter 1 A VIEW FROM AUSTRALIA
Alexandra Rose and Colin Loveday -- Clayton Utz
Chapter 2 A VIEW FROM BRAZIL
Sérgio Pinheiro Marçal – Almeida e Marçal
Chapter 3 A VIEW FROM CANADA
Catherine Beagan Flood, Jill M. Lawrie, and Laura Dougan
Chapter 4 A VIEW FROM ISRAEL
Israel (Reli) Leshem, Ron Peleg, and Noam Gilon
Chapter 5 A VIEW FROM JAPAN
Akihiro Hironaka
Chapter 6 A VIEW FROM THE UNITED STATES
Derek J.T. Adler and Fara Tabatabai
PART SIX: POLICY ISSUES – THREE OBJECTIVES AND SEVEN DIMENSIONS OF COLLECTIVE JUSTICE
Christopher Hodges and Herbert Woopen
APPENDIX Guidance for Contributors of National Chapters in Parts Two, Three, and Four of the Book