Comparing the U.S. Class Action Mechanism and Proposed U.K. System: Which Strikes the Right Balance Between Safeguards and Justice?

Sharon Robertson, Apr 16, 2013

Free enterprise and competition are critical to the success of a market economy. In the United States, the class action mechanism is one of the most effective and efficient means for consumers to play a part in protecting this basic principle. By treating public citizens as “private attorneys general,” class actions incentivize aggrieved consumers to ferret out wrongdoing and seek recompense.

In January 2013, the U.K. government’s department for B