Will Germany become the new frontier for US-style class action lawsuits?

When managing partner Katharina Kolb opened the Munich office of the U.S. law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in 2020, she knew her practice would be very different from that of her American colleagues. The firm is well-known for representing plaintiffs in U.S. class action lawsuits, but that’s not exactly a profitable business model in Germany.

“We have to come to terms with the fact that in Europe we do not yet have effective mechanisms for pursuing collective claims,” says Kolb.