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Director Mohsin Patel comments on Justin Le Patourel v. BT Group PLC and the future of collective actions

Director Mohsin Patel comments on BT successfully defeating a £1.3bn claim brought on behalf of three million landline customers, and explores what this ruling means for the future of the UK collective action regime.

Mohsin’s comments were published in City AM, Law.com, Commercial Dispute Resolution, The Law Society Gazette, Legal Futures and The Global Legal Post.

“Given the CAT’s finding that BT’s prices exceeded the benchmark significantly and persistently, this will be a bitter pill for the class representative, his lawyers and backers to swallow. Inevitably, they will be considering the judgment carefully and considering potential grounds for appeal. Therefore, there may still be some light at the end of the tunnel.

“For many, it will be deeply regrettable that the first full opt-out trial to be heard in the CAT has failed. However, this should not detract from the fact that there has been a number of recent high-profile settlements in favour of consumers, which indicates that the CAT regime is creating a positive impact overall and affording redress where previously there was none.”