Sara Berger

Experience

Commercial & Financial Disputes

Prior to joining Hausfeld, Sara was a member of the legal teams which:

• Worked on a multi-million pound fraud, embezzlement and directors’ misuse of office claim between the client and his ex-business partner which involved multiple defendants.
• Assisted with the negotiation and mediation process between the client, the owner of an oil and gas company in Azerbaijan and his UK partner in order to find a route to settlement.
• Represented an ex-law enforcement officer in potentially bringing a claim for defamation against a high-profile political figure.
• Advised Canadian Counsel in relation to custody proceedings commenced in Ontario involving a UAE resident and drafting a UAE expert report related to the relevant child laws under Sharia.
• Advised on a potential agency dispute and its merits of claim between a UK toiletries manufacturer and their UAE distributer.
• Advised a well-known New York based jewellery company in a joint venture dispute involving a Dubai jewellery company in relation to the determination of expiration or termination of a contract under UAE law.
• Advised the GCC branch of an American multinational snack company in relation to the merits of a breach of contract claim under UAE law and drafting of the settlement agreement.
• Advised and commenced multiple proceedings in the DIFC on behalf of an international construction equipment company in relation to breaches of various mortgage agreements.

Arbitration & International Arbitration

Sara’s arbitration experience includes:

• Advised on an LCIA arbitration seated in London pertaining to a multi-million dollar shareholder dispute involving an entity owned by one of the Gulf states and a company based in South East Asia.  
• Assisted UK counsel in enforcing foreign cost and arbitration orders in the UAE involving two vessels and a UAE free zone carrier.
• Advised and assisted a UAE based sub-contractor on a high profile AED280m construction arbitration in the DIFC-LCIA that had been ongoing for 5 years up until the point of the cost submissions.
• Assisted on a DIFC-LCIA arbitration in relation to a breach of a “loan agreement”, allegations of sanctions and various criminal complaints involving parties from Russia, Cyprus, Germany and the USA.
• Advised Singaporean counsel in enforcing a PORAM arbitration award in the UAE.

Competition / Antitrust

At Hausfeld, Sara has been part of the legal teams: 

• The opt-out collective action filed with the CAT on behalf of an estimated 19.5 million eligible UK users of smartphones and tablets running on Google’s Android operating system relating to excessive and unlawful charges on purchase in the Google Play store. The claim alleges that Google unfairly restricts consumers from accessing potential competition from other app distributors, by requiring smartphone manufacturers to pre-install a bundle of Google’s proprietary apps and services including the Google Play Store as well as imposing other contractual and technical restrictions.
• The representative collective action filed with the CAT on behalf of some 19.6 million eligible UK iPhone and iPad users relating to excessive and unlawful charges by the Apple App Store. The claim alleges that Apple’s conduct violates section 18 of the UK Competition Act 1998 and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
• Trains - The very first collective claim filed by Hausfeld back in February 2019, with co-counsel Charles Lyndon. It was also the first collective claim brought before the CAT on a standalone basis. Crucially for the regime more generally, in July 2022 the Court of Appeal held in Trains that liability can be determined on an aggregate basis in collective proceedings, which was a very important ruling for collective proceedings in the UK. We helped progress the case over 5 years during which the claim benefited from our competition litigation expertise.
• Representing a UK Automotive client against two defendant cartelists guilty of forming a cartel in the market for deep sea transport of new cars, trucks and other large vehicles, on various routes.

Sara has also been part of the legal teams working with car manufacturers on recovering damages as the result of the following cartels:

• Bearings
• Alternators & Starters
• Maritime Car Carriers
• Thermal Systems
• Occupant Safety Systems
• Spark Plugs & Oxygen/Fuel Sensors
• Braking Systems