Quinn Emanuel instructed in VW shareholder lawsuit

Bentham Europe has announced that international law firm Quinn Emanuel is to be retained to represent a shareholder action against Volkswagen AG for breaches of German securities law.

Speaking today, Jeremy Marshall, Bentham Europe's chief investment officer, said: 'We are having discussions with shareholders from around the world and will look to work proactively with Quinn Emanuel to litigate the case on behalf of investors. The events of the last few weeks have been extraordinary for one of the giants of the automobile sector.'

Marshall said the action needed to be brought by 'one of the giants of the legal sector' to get to the bottom of the 'crisis of confidence' referred to yesterday by Matthias Müller, Volkswagen's new chief executive.

'We are confident that Quinn Emanuel's approach and reputation will assist shareholders in obtaining swift and fair recompense for the losses that they have suffered through no fault of their own,' he added.

Richard East, the founding partner and now the co-managing partner of Quinn Emanuel's London office, commented: 'We are very excited to be retained by Bentham, on what will be the most significant securities action that has ever been filed in Germany.'

Dr Nadine Herrmann, the managing partner of the firm's Hamburg office and who will be leading the litigation efforts in Germany, added: 'We look forward to prosecuting this matter on behalf of VW's shareholders who suffered substantial damages as a result of VW's egregious misconduct.'

Third-party litigation funder Bentham Europe is to fund a shareholder action following the widely publicised 'emissions scandal'.

Up to 482,000 vehicles sold by the German car manufacturer in the US had been found to have been fitted with software that lowered the amount of Nitrous Oxide (NOx) and other pollutants emitted under test conditions.

It was subsequently discovered that the scandal was not confined to the US, as the German company had apparently installed a further 11 million devices in vehicles sold across the globe.

The markets reacted negatively to the scandal, with some €25bn of Volkswagen's market capitalisation was wiped away. Investors saw the company's share price collapse from approximately €160 to €100 a share.

Bentham confirmed last week that it was in discussions with institutional investors worldwide to fund an action against the embattled vehicle manufacturer, alleging breaches of the securities law over an eight-year period from 2007 to 2015.

Commercial ?rm Edwin Coe is also advising in relation to separate shareholder claims against the company.

David Greene, the firm's senior partner and head of group action litigation, commented: 'Shareholders have seen a dramatic fall in the share price over the past few days resulting from the news of the company’s conduct.

'If it is correct that the company purposefully committed, effectively, a fraud on its customers the company will have committed, what the Americans would call, a fraud on its shareholders, conducting itself unlawfully and then keeping from shareholders information that was likely to affect the share price (as it has).'

In related news, the lawyer representing over 1200 Volkswagen owners has called the latest statement from the German car makers ‘lamentable’, after VW announced that a recall of the cars will start in January 2016.

Bozena Michalowska-Howells from the consumer law and product safety group at  Leigh Day, called the announcement a ‘waste of breath’ by Volkswagen' Müller who gave the statement to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Michalowska-Howells commented: 'The way in which this is being handled by Volkswagen is staggering. Rather than responding to very serious concerns from their customers, they are providing the minimal information.

'The latest lamentable statement, given today to a German newspaper, does reveal that some customers will need serious interventions to parts of their vehicle. Which cars and what interventions? How will anyone be able to buy or sell an affected car without knowing this essential information?'

In September, Leigh Day began the first stage of legal action against the car giant, by demanding a full refund of the premium consumers paid for their ‘clean’ diesel cars and compensation for other related losses.

'We strongly believe UK consumers will have a claim against Volkswagen for the premium they paid for a ‘clean’ diesel car as well as costs associated with the recall and increased running costs,' concluded Michalowska-Howells.

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal
john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD