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Hausfeld Seeks to Appeal High Court Ruling in Damage Claim Against BA

Plaintiff law-firm Hausfeld LLP is seeking the right to appeal a judgment handed down last week by the High Court in London, which scotched an attempt to join more claimants to an action demanding damages from British Airways for its role in a suspected air cargo cartel.

Today, Hausfeld, which represents two flower importers Emerald Supplies Ltd and Southern Glass House Produce Ltd, is requesting leave to appeal from Justice Morritt, the Vice-Chancellor of the High Court, after he ruled on 8 April that the representative aspect of the damages action should be struck out.

Morritt found that the members of the claim had not been identified sufficiently: a point Hausfeld will dispute. The claimants believe that there only needs to be a definition for the group, and whether anybody falls within that definition is a matter for trial.

Hausfeld was seeking to add around 180 extra claimants to the action but BA had tried to block this in a hearing at the court on 2 April, arguing, inter alia, that there were potential conflicts of interest between the claimants, since any damage suffered would be 'passed on' to differing degrees depending on their position in the distribution chain. The court agreed with this line of reasoning.

This will also be challenged by the claimants, who believe that any conflict of interest between the members of the class is unknown since the law is undecided. Furthermore, this should be dealt with by the court at trial.

Justice Morritt, on the other hand, stated in his judgment that claimants must be identified at the outset and the law was not aimed at requiring further litigation to determine a class.

If the judge refuses the claimants leave to appeal – a scenario many say is likely – then Hausfeld will have another 21 days to go to the Court of Appeal in pursuit of permission.

Each of the 180 claims will have to be lodged separately if the High Court’s ruling from 8 April stands.
 

Practice Areas: Antitrust / Competition