Ruling of the Tribunal in connection with an application by the Class Representative seeking inter alia a direction from the Tribunal that the Defendants do not communicate directly with actual or potential members of the class.
By a collective proceedings order dated 20 May 2022, the Tribunal authorised Mark McLaren Class Representative Limited to act as class representative to continue collective proceedings against the Defendants.
By a series of twenty letters dated 26 July 2022, the solicitors for the Fifth Defendant wrote on behalf of all the Defendants except the Fourth Defendant to various large business purchasers concerning their participation in the proceedings. A further letter – dated 27 July 2022 – was written to a further potential large business purchaser by the solicitors for the Sixth to Eleventh Defendants, again on behalf of all the Defendants except the Fourth Defendant.
The Tribunal held that there is restriction inherent in the Tribunal Rules 2015 that precludes defendants from communicating with class members where a class has been certified (and similarly between proposed defendants and proposed class members at the application stage, where a collective proceedings order is being sought).
