Hausfeld receives GCR 2020 award for pan-European Trucks Cartel litigation

On 10th November, Global Competition Review recognised excellence across the legal industry globally, awarding Hausfeld’s ground-breaking pan-European work on the Trucks Cartel as Litigation of the Year – Cartel Prosecution at its virtual GCR 2020 Awards.

Hausfeld’s Trucks teams in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and UK have brought claims on behalf of more than 10,000 affected companies across Europe covering 500,000+ trucks - in all main jurisdictions, i.e. Germany, England & Wales and the Netherlands - both on individual and group claim bases, applying third party funding and flexible fee structures. These actions are supported by transport associations across Europe, such as the Dutch, Danish, Czech, French, German, Romanian, Slovak, and Swedish associations. This is unprecedented and shows Hausfeld’s strength and coordination across Europe.

The European Commission in 2016 fined multiple truck manufacturers, including Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF, for participating in cartel to fix the prices of medium and heavy trucks sold across Europe from 1997 and 2011. The commission initiated its probe after truck manufacturer MAN blew the whistle on the scheme.

The GCR Awards honour the world’s top antitrust lawyers, academics, economists and government enforcers for their work each year and when considering cartel prosecution cases, select the most creative, strategic and innovative litigation on behalf of plaintiffs in a private action for cartel damages. We are therefore very pleased to have received this accolade, which is a testament to the team’s ongoing commitment to achieve damages for those who suffered as a result of this anti-competitive conduct. The case was up against three worthy nominations, including our US team’s work on the Disposable Contact Lens antitrust litigation.

With special thanks to our clients, the associations and Rob Okhuijsen for their support.