CDC Cartel Damage Claims was founded in 2002 by Dr. Ulrich Classen, an experienced competition lawyer and former official of the German Federal Cartel Office. Ulrich started CDC with a clear mission: to fix a deeply unfair situation where companies harmed by anticompetitive behaviour had no real path to justice — even when infringements had already been proven and fines handed out.
The obstacles standing in the way of those companies were real and significant, and many of them still exist today:
And this wasn't just a problem for small businesses — large multinationals faced the same walls.
Ulrich's response was to build something entirely new. He brought together a multidisciplinary team — legal, economic, data, IT, negotiation, and funding experts — all under one roof and working toward one goal. He also pioneered the idea of combining claims from multiple affected companies into a single legal action, pursued by CDC in its own name, at its own cost and risk. This became known as the CDC Bundling Model.
For the first time, European businesses could fully hand off their antitrust damages claims — with no upfront costs, no financial risk, and no distraction from their core operations. CDC only gets paid when the case succeeds.
This was genuinely revolutionary. In the absence of a US-style class action system in Europe, the CDC Bundling Model gave damaged companies a real and practical route to compensation, levelling the playing field against well-resourced cartel participants.
CDC continues to grow, innovate, and fight for companies across Europe, with offices in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. Since 2002, we've secured landmark judgments and settlements, returning to businesses the money that was wrongfully taken from them.
CDC has been purpose-built around a truly unique model. Our multidisciplinary, multilingual team of specialists — spanning competition law, economics, data analytics, litigation funding, negotiation, and IT — is structured specifically to maximise the efficiency and outcome of every recovery process we undertake.
CDC operates on a no win, no fee basis unless clients expressly request otherwise. We invest our own resources and assume full responsibility for all aspects of the case — including all associated costs and financial risks. Under this model, damaged companies bear no financial exposure whatsoever in relation to the legal proceedings.
In addition to full-scale damages recovery, CDC offers a comprehensive range of specialised, tailor-made services to companies, trade associations, and law firms, covering litigation funding, case assessment, data collection, and economic analysis.
Rigorous legal and economic analysis to determine the merits, scope, and potential value of your claim — at no cost to you.
CDC aggregates claims from multiple affected companies, multiplying negotiating power and evidence base against cartel members.
Strategic pursuit of optimal compensation through negotiated settlement or court proceedings — with CDC bearing all costs and risks.
Bespoke disbursement and distribution of settlement proceeds to all damaged companies, handled entirely by CDC.
Our team combines deep expertise in competition law, economics, data analytics, IT, litigation funding, and negotiation — all under one roof, working exclusively on antitrust recovery.
Founder & Managing Director
Legal Specialists
Economic Damage Specialists
IT & Data Science Team
Updated team profiles and photographs coming soon. Contact us to meet the team.