Class action-reaction

The European-American conflict in justice has long kept lawyers and companies on edge. Increasingly, European companies are being sued in the USA and are confronted with a range of procedural as well as substantive legal disadvantages. The conflict becomes particularly acute when a class action lawsuit is threatened. Such representative compensation proceedings gain significant economic and media relevance through the bundling of claims, leading to high settlement pressure and often perceived as abusive. The author addresses the question of whether the objection of abuse is suitable to deny legal assistance for the service of a class action lawsuit to a company in Germany. He places this specific form of action within the broader context of the American legal system and highlights other plaintiff-friendly legal institutions. He identifies specific indicators of abuse that should be considered in the legal assistance decision to identify abusive constellations.