We are Austen Hays
As experts in class actions, we have extensive experience in launching and managing claims for groups of individuals or businesses.
Austen Hays has been set up within Gateley, a listed professional services firm on the London Stock Exchange AIM market. Our highly-talented team has acted on some of the most complex and significant collective cases in the UK, brought by both consumers and businesses. We have been at the forefront of the rise of class actions in the UK, including previously acting as lead solicitor for over 71,000 individuals in the landmark Volkswagen NOx Emissions group litigation case, which settled for £193m in May 2022.
Supplemented with deep understanding of litigation funding, we are well placed to advise on all stages of the collective actions process, providing access to suitable funding structures through our extensive network of litigation funders.
Our mission
We believe that those who have suffered damage as a result of misconduct and other corporate failings, should be able to achieve financial redress through access to market-leading and experienced experts who care passionately about each claim. Our mission is to stand up for the individual or business and achieve justice on their behalf, no matter how challenging it might be.
We will only run cases that we believe we can win and will do this without charging our clients upfront. We pride ourselves on being clear and transparent with our clients in relation to progress on their claims and how much and when we will charge them. This is the Austen Hays ethos.
What is a class action?
Class actions, also known as collective actions, help claimants in the same boat come together, to share resources and costs, enabling them to pursue a single claim.
Through strength in numbers, and our ability to secure litigation funding, class actions help level the playing field and enable people and businesses who have suffered loss to seek and obtain justice by standing up against large organisations.
Class actions are brought on an ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’ basis.
With opt-in actions, claimants must proactively take steps to join the proceedings. Austen Hays has invested in cutting-edge technology which enables clients to check whether they are eligible for a claim and provide information essential for us to act on their behalf. Anyone can check their eligibility simply, quickly and at no cost to them. The process takes just a few moments and all data that is being shared is treated with the utmost confidentiality.
Opt-out proceedings involve a single representative who brings the claim on behalf of an entire group of claimants, without those claimants having to take any proactive steps until the legal process has run its course and a successful outcome has been achieved. Opt-out claims are increasingly common in cases concerning breaches of competition law, an area in which we specialise.
Consumer collective actions are on the rise
Listen to our collective actions experts, Chaya Hanoomanjee and Alicia Theuma, talk to Alex Neill and Nikki Stopford from Consumer Voice about the recent rise in consumer collective actions and what the underlying factors might be.
HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US?
You can find out more about the class actions that Austen Hays are advising clients on by sending us a message.
If you believe that you have a claim which may also affect a number of other individuals or businesses, please contact us at with a brief description of the issue.
