Germany's new consumer class action law is set to spark increased levels of competition between international and domestic law firms in the market, as disputes rivals vie for major mandates under the new regime.

The new law, which came into force today (1 November), will allow consumers to bring collective action against companies for the first time, and law firms in the country have been readying themselves for an expected surge of work.

Hengeler Mueller disputes partner Carsten van de Sande says: "The culture for taking class action against businesses was already in Germany – but the new law has opened up a chaotic playing field for these to come to life."

US disputes specialist Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan – which has a strong pedigree in class actions work, having advised on major cases such as the £14bn UK group action against MasterCard – has made moves to build up its expertise in the Germany, where it now has four bases after launching in the country in 2010.

The firm recently recruited Latham & Watkins counsel Carsten Witzke in Hamburg, while fellow class action specialist Benjamin Fritz also joined from Latham as a senior associate this week.

"Given our vast experience in mass litigation, Quinn Emanuel plans to be very active in defending cases brought under the new law," says Witzke. "We have been planning events surrounding the introduction of the new law and are also already seeing a growing demand for advice from clients."

Quinn Emanuel Hamburg managing partner Nadine Herrmann says the firm will offer legal advice on both the plaintiff and defence side, but is likely to position itself more towards the defence side due to the firm's experience with large businesses.

The new law has opened up a chaotic playing field

While partners at domestic firms such as Hengeler acknowledge the threat posed by international competitors such as Quinn, they also see themselves as being at the forefront of the market.

Fellow Hengeler partner Thomas Paul adds: "Class action work is very intense and time consuming – you're working on short deadlines in an environment where the consumer side is trying to use litigation PR to be active in the press, to create pressure on the defendant to come forward to settle an agreement. That's where our legal advice will be needed."

Other firms expected to be key players under the new regime include domestic consumer litigation specialist RUSS Litigation, which launched this year to specifically target work stemming from the new law, and claimant law firm Hausfeld, which moved into the German market in 2015.

A major factor behind the introduction of the new law has has been the Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal, and the first case under the new regime has already begun, with the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBV) today (1 November) filing a class action against the iconic German carmaker over the 'dieselgate' controversy.

Freshfields is advising VW on the claim, while VZBV is being advised by RUSS.

The onus will now be on law firms to demonstrate their capabilities to clients facing the prospect of a class action – which could potentially stem from events that took place many years ago.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer litigation and arbitration partner Michael Rohls says: "Even after 20-30 years, a consumer can, in principle, dig up a claim from the past against a life insurance company. Tens of thousands of these claims are already sitting at the courts and a lot more could come out of the woodwork under the declaratory model action."

Fellow Freshfields disputes partner Martina de Lind van Wijngaarden adds: "There are issues that millions of people are affected by but that, up until now, no one really cared about because the damage caused by the issue is so small. But now, consumer associations will be thinking long and hard about these kinds of cases."