An American trial lawyer who made his name on big-money group litigation has joined forces with two English barristers to create a new firm in the UK.

Lanier, Longstaff, Hedar & Roberts LLP has been authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and said it expects to announce its first case within the next month.

The firm is jointly headed by Mark Lanier, founder of the (entirely separate) Texas-based The Lanier Law Firm, and aims to bring group legal actions in areas such as pharmaceutical and product liability and competition litigation.

In the US, Lanier has secured $9bn from pharmaceutical companies concealing cancer risks associated with a diabetes drug and $1.5bn on a case involving metal-on-metal hip implants, and now represents 16 states in the US suing Google over alleged anti-competitive practices.

Lanier said: ‘We see the UK as an emerging market for the work we do. The same injustices that we’ve seen in the US have affected people in the UK too and so we want to provide the same representation. The misuse of power is certainly not just an American phenomenon.’

Lanier and his US firm’s chief operating officer Kevin Roberts will be partners of the firm alongside barristers Tom Longstaff and Duncan Hedar, both of Exchange Chambers in Manchester. They are also former solicitors who worked together at magic circle firm Linklaters.

Mark Lanier

Lanier: 'Misuse of power is certainly not just an American phenomenon'

Tom Longstaff

Longstaff: UK is seen as a huge growth area for group litigation

Longstaff said the UK is seen as a huge growth area for group litigation, where many large companies have long got away with harming consumers.

‘It is only in recent years that it has become easier to bring cases on behalf of groups of people in the UK and the English legal profession has much to learn from the US in terms of how to run such cases effectively,’ he added.

‘Mark has had huge success in court and received countless accolades for his work. Through creating one of the leading pro-consumer law firms in America, he has learnt a huge amount about the market, how to structure and grow this type of firm, and the business processes needed to bring these cases successfully.’

The firm expects to have 15 staff by the end of its first year and aims in particular to attract lawyers based in the north who want to work on group litigation without having to move to London.

 

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