January 23, 2019
Although class action litigation in the United States remains an outlier in the global legal landscape, recent developments in Europe indicate that class or representative actions could soon become more meaningful parts of European legal frameworks. In the last nine months, the European Commission proposed the first EU-wide class action regime, and a new law took effect in Germany that permits representative actions on behalf of consumers. These and other developments could have significant implications for global companies that could be subject to new legal challenges in foreign jurisdictions.
A panel of Gibson Dunn partners from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States provide insights into these emerging trends and offer practical guidance to in-house attorneys for managing associated risks.
Topics to be covered:
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PANELISTS:
Chantale Fiebig Partner in the Washington, D.C. office whose practice focuses on complex civil litigation in federal court. Ms. Fiebig has substantial experience litigating consumer class actions, particularly relating to products that are heavily regulated. She has successfully defended claims involving branded pharmaceuticals, polyurethane foam, automobiles, and food and beverage products, among others.
Daniel W. Nelson Partner in the Washington, D.C. office, Co-Chair of the firm’s Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort Practice Group, and a member of the Class Actions and Complex Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Nelson has a national complex litigation practice spanning a wide range of areas, with a particular focus on environmental and mass tort litigation, complex business litigation, antitrust litigation, and class action litigation.
He has served as the lead defense counsel for clients in the courts of more than 30 states, and he has defended more than 150 class action lawsuits, including as lead trial counsel in securing a defense verdict in a certified class action jury trial.
Eric Bouffard Partner in the Paris office and a member of the firm’s Litigation, International Arbitration and Business Restructuring Practice Groups. Mr. Bouffard is particularly active in cross-border litigation, commercial arbitration, insurance and reinsurance, commercial law (including insolvency and recovery of debt), industrial risk (latent defects, interruption of production, delay and consequential losses) and international trade before both judicial courts and arbitral tribunals.
Finn Zeidler Partner in the Frankfurt office and a member of the firm’s Litigation and White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Groups. Mr. Zeidler focuses his litigation practice on corporate and commercial litigation and arbitration, often with a transatlantic background. Another focus of his practice is on white-collar crime and regulatory investigations as well as on compliance issues, often with cross-border elements. He has significant experience in the automotive, financial and new energy sectors. Among others, Mr. Zeidler has represented German publicly-listed corporations in proceedings under the German legal regulation “KapMuG”, concerning securities mass actions.
Osma Hudda Partner in the London office and a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group. Ms. Hudda has broad-based dispute resolution experience including litigation, international arbitration and regulatory investigations. Her litigation experience has involved representing clients in Employment Tribunals, the High Court and Court of Appeal. Ms. Hudda also has defended companies involved in regulatory investigations in the UK and internationally as well as assisting clients in large scale internal investigations and related compliance issues.