The Court of Appeal provides a significant boost for UK collective proceedings

CA-2024-000892 Gutmann -v- Apple Final Judgment

We are delighted to be able to share some long-awaited good news for the UK litigation funding market. In Gutmann v Apple Inc & Ors [2025] EWCA Civ 459, the Court of Appeal confirmed this morning that litigation funders can obtain a share of damages prior to their distribution to class members in opt-out collective proceedings in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

We would like to congratulate Justin Gutmann on this excellent result for the class, and thank Nicholas Bacon KC for his expert advocacy, as well as Dorothea Antzoulatos, Joshua Elsey and Charles Udale for their hard work on the case. We would also like to thank Balance Legal Capital LLP for their continued support.

At Charles Lyndon, we are dedicated to providing access to justice for UK consumers. We recognise that this depends on a collective action regime that works for everyone involved — class members, funders and lawyers. Funders, in particular, need certainty that where a case is successful, they will be able to achieve a fair return on what are often sizeable and lengthy investments in important claims.

We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has confirmed that funders and other stakeholders do not need to rely on there being sufficient funds left after distribution to class members in order to recover their return. We anticipate that this judgment will provide greater confidence to the funding market and reinforce that the UK class action regime remains an attractive place to invest.