Cambridge Forum on European Collective Redress

After dealing with collective redress, as a lawyer on behalf of an approved consumer association in Argentina (2000-2005), María José pursued her career in Paris, where she obtained an LLM and her PhD at Sorbonne University and Buenos Aires’ University, on Collective actions in consumer law, under a Comparative law perspective (2006 and 2011). Then, she was recruited as Associate Professor at Paris-Saclay University, and as such dedicated to lecturing (at national and international universities) and research (having written more than 150 contributions in English, French and Spanish, regarding Class and Group actions and collective redress, namely a Study for the European Parliament, on the State of play of collective redress in the EU). She is a lawyer at the Bars of Paris and of Buenos Aires, acts as an international expert in cross border class actions, and as strategic counsel, advising Third party funders and lawyers internationally. She also seats at the Board of two NGOs bringing collective actions at a European level, in different jurisdictions (The Netherlands, Portugal, France) and sectors (consumer, competition, data breaches, health, product liability and environment).

A dual-qualified Spanish and English lawyer, and a Doctor in Law, Paul is an internationally reputed competition litigation specialist, the first to be recognized as such in Spain (GCR 2017, Lexology 2022-2025). He was lead counsel on the first successful competition damages case before the Spanish Commercial Courts in 2005, has litigated mass competition claims in various jurisdictions around the EU (including, Spain, England, France and Italy) and directed the legal team which prepared the EU Pass-on Study (2016). He is currently legal director of one of the main claimant groups in the Spanish milk cartel case and lead counsel on the first pay-for-delay claim in Spain. He was also lead counsel for Daimler in the Spanish trucks cartel litigation in (2017-2020).

Paul was a partner at Cuatrecasas for 12 years where, in 2008, he created the firm’s Private Enforcement practice. He left Cuatrecasas to form boutique firm Hitchings & Co. in 2020 and, five years later, has launched its successor with ex Commercial Court magistrate, Blas González. Hitchings & Gonzalez is specialized in EU & Competition Litigation and collective actions.

Paul is also director of the Madrid Competition Litigation Seminar, now in its 6th edition.

Rosie Ioannou is a Director at Fortress Investment Group. In this role she provides bespoke funding solutions for high value commercial litigation and portfolio financing solutions for law firms and their clients. Rosie has experience both in private practice and as funder in a wide range of disputes both in the UK and internationally. She has particular expertise in funding large complex matters, including group claims and competition related disputes. A solicitor of the Courts of England and Wales, before joining Fortress, Rosie worked at Vannin Capital. Prior to that she worked in the litigation department at Allen & Overy in London, where she trained and qualified.

Shlayane holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa, ON. 

Prior to joining the Cambridge team, she has developed a robust expertise in the event industry having orchestrated a diverse range of events from intimate gatherings to large-scale corporate functions. Shlay has successfully managed events for clients such as Fashion Bomb Daily, SickKids, Pinterest, and more showcasing her ability to handle complex logistics and creative challenges with ease. 

Outside of the office, Shlay enjoys spin class, reading by the beach, and endless karaoke nights with her family.