Case Note: The Hague District court 20 September 2023, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2023:14036 (Airbus) and Amsterdam District court 25 October 2023, ECLI: NL:RBAMS:2023:6694 (TikTok)
1. Introduction
This duo of cases presents notable decisions by lower courts pertaining to third-party funding of mass claims under the (amended) Dutch collective action regime (WAMCA). The decisions shed some welcome light on the courts' interpretations of admissibility requirements, in particular concerning the limits of a third-party funder's influence on the representative entity initiating collective proceedings. Moreover, the Amsterdam District Court has outlined a number of principles in TikTok for its assessment of funder success fees should a damages claim succeed on the merits. If these principles prove workable, they may serve as an example for other courts faced with the same task.