Hot Legal Topics

The British government has omitted an urgently awaited law to safeguard litigation financing from its recent King's Speech. The industry shows deep disappointment as the barriers created by the controversial PACCAR ruling were not eliminated. This continues to massively complicate the pursuit of collective opt-out class actions in the British legal system.

In the United States, several states including Michigan and Colorado are advancing legislative initiatives that would impose significantly stricter disclosure requirements for third-party litigation funding. This growing regulatory trend at the state level aims to increase transparency. It could substantially alter the financing possibilities and strategic framework for US class actions in the future.

The Bremen Regional Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit by the Consumer Protection Center, holding that Milka may no longer distribute chocolate bars that have been reduced from 100 to 90 grams in identical packaging sizes. This action against so-called shrinkflation marks an important consumer protection law success. The judgment could serve as a template for a wave of similar injunction lawsuits against food manufacturers.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has approved an Italian regulation implementing the EU Copyright Directive, under which press publishers may demand appropriate remuneration from large platforms such as Meta and Google. The judgment provides enormous support for publishers in enforcing collective licensing demands. It notably strengthens the media industry's position vis-à-vis the tech giants.

The Higher Regional Court of Hamm ruled in a landmark case that website operators must be liable for false statements made by their AI chatbots, specifically for fabricated medical specialist designations. Since appeal to the Federal Court of Justice has been permitted, the case is considered groundbreaking for the attribution of AI errors. This could have far-reaching consequences for future mass liability scenarios in the field of artificial intelligence.