Richard Leedham, Partner and Head of the Commercial Litigation and Insurance Disputes team at Mishcon de Reya, was interviewed by Law360 as part of their Practice Leader Insights series.
Richard described his most challenging matter as representing the Hiscox Action Group, a collective of 400 small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to recover business interruption losses during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Richard also highlighted areas of law in need of reform, noting that the remedy for damages for late payment of insurance claims is "practically worthless in all but the most extreme cases." On group claims, he observed that case law is developing in an ad hoc way and that there is little appetite to extend the opt-out regime in the Competition Appeal Tribunal to consumer claims more generally.
Discussing current trends, Richard pointed to the ongoing development of group actions in the UK, with claimant-side lawyers innovating to hold companies accountable despite the challenges of the opt-in system. He noted that, while there is much debate about the opt-out route in the CAT, claimants can and do bring opt-in group claims, which the courts are generally willing to manage.
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