Head of UK

Chris Haan heads the firm’s UK office and specialises in group litigation and class actions.

Described in the Chambers Guide as “one of the sector’s innovators” and “genuinely the complete package”, Chris’s wide collective actions experience includes the areas of securities claims, investment and financial product fraud, competition and cartels, mass torts, product liability, employment, environmental and human rights. He conducted the first opt-out competition law class action in the UK, and his cases have included some of the most significant group actions in the UK, such as the Volkswagen emissions group litigation. Chris’s clients range from major institutional investors and financial institutions to individuals and charities.

He has been ranked in the Chambers UK Guide, with descriptions such as:

  • “Chris is one of the sector’s innovators” (Chambers 2026)
  • “Chris is a well-known claimant-side group litigator, super bright, and in a cutting-edge piece of the market. (Chambers 2026)
  • “Chris is very impressive at everything he does. He’s genuinely the complete package. He knows all the regimes and which will work best for different cases; he understands how the market works too.” (Chambers 2026)
  • “Chris is a strong intellectual lawyer who thinks of every angle, covers all the pitfalls and works out the case strategy all the way to trial. He is a very effective litigator who is prepared to take difficult points and make them persuasive.” (Chambers 2024)
  • “He has encyclopedic knowledge of a case and is good at managing cases through the different practical issues that arise in group claims.” (Chambers 2024)
  • “He has a real ability to laser in and focus on things that are really important.” (Chambers 2024)
  • “an absolute genius and a very good lawyer” (Chambers 2019)

Admissions and Education

  • Admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales (2011)
  • Admitted as a solicitor in Victoria, Australia (2005)
  • LLB (Hons), University of Melbourne (2003)
  • BSc (Jur), University of Adelaide (2000)

Publications

Rachel Tandy and Chris Haan, “Collective stress of collective redress? Examining available mechanisms for securities litigation in England and Wales”, Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Finance Law (October 2023).