Jonathan McDonagh

Jonathan’s background as a commercial chancery junior provides a valuable, and rare, specialism in group litigation disputes involving complex issues of jurisdiction, private international law, corporate liability, and fraud.

In recent years, Jonathan has been instructed in several major pieces of ongoing group litigation including Munícipio de Mariana and oths v BHP Group (the Fundão Dam disaster litigation), the largest opt-in group action ever brought before the English courts. With an estimated 600,000+ claimants, the case has generated global media coverage as it seeks to establish parent-company liability for an environmental catastrophe in Brazil; and along the way it has provided new precedents for issues of jurisdiction and how to conduct large-scale multi-national class actions before the English courts. Jonathan has acted for the claimants from the outset of this litigation.

He has also been instructed across a range of the ‘dieselgate’ claims, including the Crossley v VW litigation; and more recently in respect of claims against several other manufacturers that will be progressing through the English courts in 2024.

In addition, Jonathan frequently advises funders and insurers in respect of group claims.