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Douglas is an experienced commercial litigator, dual qualified in Scotland and England & Wales, with a broad range of experience, including in relation to relation to competition disputes, contractual disputes, data protection, economic torts and insolvency, and cases in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, High Court, Administrative Court and Court of Appeal. He has acted in numerous complex and high-profile cases, including four separate cases featured in "The Lawyer Top 20 Cases". In 2025, Douglas was featured in the "Top 20 Cases: the associates to know".

Douglas has particular expertise in competition damages claims, acting for both Defendants and Claimants in many of the leading cases, across a range of sectors, including Maritime Car Carriers, Interchange Fees, Power Cables, Forex and Air Cargo, and claims in ‘Big Tech’. Douglas has been at the forefront of the developing collective actions regime and has been instructed in several of the formative cases and judgments. These include acting in the first collective action certified on behalf of businesses, acting for a class representative in the first ‘carriage dispute’, acting in the leading Court of Appeal judgment in relation to defendants’ rights to communicate with class members, negotiating the first ever collective settlement (and three of the first five approved settlements), and acting for the class representative in the first follow-on collective action to go to full trial. 

Relevant experience

  • Mark McLaren Class Representative Limited, the class representative (representing businesses and consumers who purchased new cars) in a follow-on opt-out collective action in relation to the Maritime Car Carriers cartel, culminating in a nine-week trial before settling for a total of GBP 92.75m (Case 1339/7/7/20 Mark McLaren Class Representative Limited v MOL (Europe Africa) Ltd & Others ([2022] CAT 10; [2023] CAT 75; [2025] CAT 4; [2022] EWCA Civ 1701; [2023] EWCA Civ 1471)).*
  • Various UK and multinational merchants in claims against Visa and Mastercard in relation to multilateral interchange fees, representing one of two claimant groups actively litigating the merchant interchange fee proceedings in respect of claims totalling in excess of GBP 200m, including at two separate trials (Case 1517/11/7/22 (UM) Merchant Interchange Fee Umbrella Proceedings ([2024] EWCA Civ 1559; [2025 CAT 37])).*
  • Dr Sean Ennis, the class representative (representing UK app developers) in a standalone opt-out collective action against Apple for abuse of dominance in relation to excessive prices charged for app distribution services, seeking in excess of GBP 780m (Case 1601/7/7/23 Dr Sean Ennis v Apple Inc. & Others ([2025] CAT 70)).*
  • Clare Spottiswoode CBE, the class representative (representing UK consumers) in a follow-on opt-out collective action arising from the Power Cables cartel, seeking damages in excess of GBP 500m for the effects of the cartel on UK energy bills, including a preliminary issues trial in relation to the level of renewables subsidies (Case 1440/7/7/22 Clare Spottiswoode CBE v Nexans France SAS & Others ([2024] CAT 31; [2025] CAT 68)).*
  • Michael O’Higgins FX Class Representative Limited, the class representative (representing UK pension funds, hedge funds and businesses) in a follow-on opt-out collective action seeking approximately GBP 1bn of damages arising from the Forex cartels in relation to spot trading of G10 currencies (Case 1329/7/7/19 Michael O’Higgins FX Class Representative Limited v Barclays Bank plc & Others ([2022] CAT 16; [2023] EWCA Civ 876)).*
  • Circadian Limited (part of the Hutchison Group) in a claim arising from a cartel in construction and demolition services, reaching a confidential settlement (Case 1713/5/7/25 Circadian Limited v Carey Group Limited & Others).*
  • The Claimant in a claim considering an employer’s duty of care and the scope of the indemnity implied into an employment relationship (Benyatov v Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited ([2022] EWHC 135 (QB); [2023] EWCA Civ 140)).*
     

*Prior to joining to CMS.

Education

  • Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, The University of Edinburgh.
  • LLB (Hons), University of Edinburgh.

Insights by Douglas

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