The second annual European Class Action Report 2022 published by international law firm CMS has been released. The report looks at class action activity in the UK and across Europe over a six-year period from 2016 to 2021. It is the only study to analyze data from class action proceedings across Europe and to map a true picture of class action risk.

These are the key findings:

• The number of class actions filed in 2021 exceeds 2020, at 110 claims. This equates to growth of over 120% between 2018 and 2021.
• The explosive growth in ligation funding has been identified as a major driver of class actions, and industry experts expect statutory regulation to be introduced if the use of third-party funding continues to expand.
• Across the EU, third-party funding is predicted to grow to EUR1.6bn in revenue by 2025.
• There was significant growth in product liability, consumer law and personal injury claims across Europe, with triple the number of consumer claims being filed in 2021 as in 2020.
• The number of competition and data protection claims is increasing.
• In 2021, competition claims accounted for 40% new claims in this sector. This was closely followed by data protection claims (30%), fuelled by GDPR and the potential for data protection issues.
• The UK accounted for 54% of all claims in Europe. Other countries that are seeing a significant rise in class actions are the Netherlands and Portugal.

Don’t miss the respot. You can download it here!