Digital markets law boosts potential for private claims

• The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 introduces new causes of action for private litigants against firms operating in digital markets designated as having ‘strategic market status’.
• This may cause a rethink in how competition claims have traditionally been brought against such firms.
• The Act also introduces new forms of relief for competition claims, further bolstering the litigation landscape for claimants.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA 2024 2024) received Royal Assent earlier this year. Deservedly, much focus has been on the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA’s) enhanced statutory powers when it comes to the enforcement of competition law in digital markets. However, beyond the new regime in the regulation of digital markets, the DMCCA 2024 will also have an effect on the competition litigation landscape in England and Wales, an area of private litigation that has seen enormous growth in recent years with the advent of the collective proceedings regime.

There are two key areas in which