Supreme Court refuses Apple permission to appeal in Gutmann v Apple funding decision

Apple Inc and others (Appellants) v Gutmann (Respondent) – UK Supreme Court

We’re pleased to share a significant development in Gutmann v Apple. By an order dated 8 October 2025, the Supreme Court has refused Apple’s application for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s judgment from earlier this year. In practical terms, that leaves the Court of Appeal’s decision in place and confirms the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s discretionary power to permit payment of a Class Representative’s costs, fees and disbursements ahead of the distribution of damages to the class in opt-out collective proceedings.

The Court of Appeal’s judgment under appeal — [2025] EWCA Civ 459, handed down on 16 April 2025 — provided clarity on sections 47C(3) and 47C(6) of the Competition Act 1998 and Rule 93 of the CAT Rules 2015. It confirmed that the CAT has discretion to order payment of a Class Representative’s costs, fees and disbursements, subject always to its supervisory jurisdiction to ensure that payments to stakeholders are fair and reasonable.

We are delighted (though not surprised) that the Supreme Court has recognised that the Appellants’ challenge to the Court of Appeal’s judgment was misplaced. The outcome brings welcome certainty for stakeholders across the collective proceedings regime and underlines the breadth of the CAT’s discretion in the wide range of circumstances it may face at the conclusion of proceedings.

Congratulations to Justin Gutmann on this great result, and thank you to Nicholas Bacon KC for his advocacy and support throughout. Thank you also to the team at Charles Lyndon for their exceptional work on this matter, and to Balance Legal Capital LLP for their ongoing support.