The Diesel Emissions Justice Foundation believes that no individual or corporation is above the law, regardless of how wealthy or powerful they are. Volkswagen and Mercedes have been profoundly dishonest with their customers and with the authorities, causing tremendous financial harm to you in addition to immeasurable damage to the environment and public health. Joining this claim sends the message to all corporations that they will be held accountable for their behavior.
The Foundation
Stichting Diesel Emissions Justice (DEJF) was established under Dutch law on 3 July 2019 with a mission to seek justice for drivers impacted by the Dieselgate scandal. It has already brought collective proceedings against Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Seat and other related parties in the Netherlands and seeks to obtain fair and adequate damages for affected consumers across the continent of Europe.
A unique feature that sets the foundation apart from other initiatives is its use of the new act on the collective damages claims, WAMCA (Wet Collectieve Afwikkeling Massaschade), a bill that came into force in the Netherlands on January 1st, 2020 and provides an efficient mechanism for collective redress allowing the DEJF to litigate the claims of all European car owners in a coordinated manner. If and when needed, the DEJF will also litigate the claims of non-Dutch car owners in various other jurisdictions in order to achieve an appropriate solution.
The Team
The Foundation is being advised by a leading group of attorneys and industry professionals from around the world. These professionals are globally recognized as outstanding leaders in the automotive industry and collective redress and have extensive experience in pursuing, resolving and administering collective actions around the world.
Prof. Andrew Goodman, LLB MBA Ph.D. FCIArb FInstCPD FRSA
Andrew is the chairman of the board of directors. He has over 40 years’ experience as an independent commercial barrister and international consulting mediator. He holds a number of visiting academic posts in the UK, Europe and South Africa and advises governments, Bars, corporations and institutions on conflict avoidance and dispute management systems. He has helped develop mediation processes in Turkey, Thailand, Nigeria and Nepal and is a thought leader in the field of mediation advocacy, which he helped establish.
Andrew practices in up to 20 jurisdictions and is the author of nearly 50 books on legal processes and dispute resolution. He is a director of Gateway Class Actions Limited, which is currently pursuing projects actively assisting victims in mass tort claim litigation in the United States, Canada, Australia and within the EU.
A Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple, London, Andrew has established practices in London, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Lagos and Kathmandu. Among other organisations, he is a member of the International Advocacy Training Council, the International Mediation Institute and is a Faculty member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Prof. Maria José Azar-Baud
Maria José is an expert in Collective redress in Comparative law. Associate Professor at University of Paris-Saclay and lecturer at several national and international Universities, namely University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, at Masters’ degree, her main areas of teaching and research are Consumer law, International Contracts and Comparative procedural law.
Maria José holds a double PhD from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and the University of Buenos Aires focusing on Collective actions in Consumer law in France and Argentina, under a Comparative Law perspective (published by the French editor Dalloz, in 2013).
She is the author of more than 80 contributions in three languages, mainly related to class actions, collective, representative and group actions, in the fields of procedural law, torts and liability, consumer law, environmental law and discrimination. As a member of several scholarly institutions, Maria José has been heard in matters of group and collective actions in general in the Senate, the National Assembly and several agencies in France, as well as in the European Parliament, as one of the main authors of the Study on Collective redress in the EU Member States requested by the European Parliament.
Maria José co-chairs the Paris-Saclay Legal Clinics and founded the Observatory of Group Actions and other forms of Collective Redress in 2017, an international platform for researchers and practitioners aimed at collecting data related and analysing it from an interdisciplinary point of view.
She began her career as a lawyer at the Bar of Buenos Aires and has extensive experience in the practice of collective actions and the negotiation of amicable collective settlements on behalf of consumer associations in Argentina.
At present, aside from lecturing, Maria José is an international counsel and serves on the Executive Board of two European non-profit organisations acting as plaintiffs in mass tort cases and seeking to grant access to justice on a collective scale.
Bert Jan Tiesinga, MSc EMFC RC
Bert Jan is a Dutch business economist with 25 years of experience as an accountant, controller, Chief Financial Officer and Board Member in the metal industry and the financial services business. Since 2011, he has focused on individual and collective legal services for consumers and entrepreneurs with regard to financial products.
Bert Jan is a founder and member of the legal team of the Dutch claim foundation “Stichting Wakkerpolis”, which conducts collective actions against insurance companies, specifically NN Group and ASR.
Over the past ten years, Bert Jan has worked closely together with lawyers and litigation funders and acquired extensive knowledge and experience in the field of settlements, individual proceedings at the Dutch Financial Services Disputes Institute (“Kifid”) and collective actions in the Netherlands (art. 3:305a Dutch Civil Code, WAMCA, Claim Code).
Bert Jan graduated from the Free University of Amsterdam, where he completed the post-master’s program Executive Master of Finance & Control (Registered Controller) after his master’s degree in business economics.
Peter Goes
Peter is the chairman of the supervisory board and is a Dutch national living in Rotterdam. He has over 35 years of experience as a Dutch attorney (“advocaat”) and has practiced law in the Netherlands, China and Luxembourg.
He was partner at the law firms NautaDutilh, Linklaters LLP and Windt LeGrand Leeuwenburgh. From 1 January 2022, he no longer is a member of the Dutch Bar. Peter specialized in cross border mergers and acquisitions and board room consulting. In addition, he has considerable litigation and arbitration experience.
Peter’s current main occupation is inhouse counsel at two well-known Rotterdam philanthropic institutions. He also serves as chairman of the board of a legal aid foundation in Rotterdam.
Prof. Julia Suderow
Julia teaches as an Associate Professor at the University of Deusto, in the areas of Private International Law and International Trade Law and is the author of numerous publications, written in English, German and Spanish. She is also a national coordinator of the Permanent Observatory for the Application of Competition Rules at the University of Trento. Julia is a lawyer specializing in Competition Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, International Arbitration and Private International Law and is the founding partner of Suderow Fernandez Abogadas SLP provides legal advice services to companies in complex transnational cases.
Julia is a law graduate from the University of Hannover, has a Master’s degree by the University of Hannover and by the University of Louvain, and has a doctorate by the Carlos III University of Madrid, with a specialization in Competition and International Private Law.
George Tsetsekos, Ph.D.
George serves as the Francis professor of Finance and Dean Emeritus at Drexel’s LeBow College of Business in Philadelphia USA. He served as Dean of LeBow (2002-2012) and under his transformative leadership the College achieved national rankings and quality milestones in research and teaching. His development efforts among others led to the launching of a nationally recognized Center in Corporate Governance. Prior to his appointment as Dean, George served as Drexel’s Vice President for academic administration.
His extensive research covers the broad areas of corporate finance, investments, and international finance. His research contributions include articles published in journals including The Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Banking & Finance and Journal of International Business Studies. He is the author of books in finance, has served on editorial boards for academic journals and chairs conferences on international finance topics. Currently he teaches courses in Private Equity and Financial strategy to MBA students and oversees the Risk Management Center at LeBow.
George has served on Boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Penjerdel Council, the PA Economic League, the World Trade Center and other organizations and has Chaired the Board of the Global Interdependence Center. He serves as expert witness on corporate litigation matters and in assessing damages in class action cases. With numerous consulting assignments, he has advised numerous organizations and firms including The World Bank, SEC, Bear Stearns, Johnson & Johnson and FannieMae.
As stated previously, the objective of the Diesel Emissions Justice Foundation is to represent car buyers who suffered losses as a result of the diesel emission fraud and to protect the environment. The Foundation aims to serve the interests of affected parties throughout the European Union.
The Foundation is an independent, Netherlands-based claim foundation and is funded by Consumer Justice Network B.V., a consortium of legal professionals and professional litigation funders from the Netherlands and the United States. As the Funder works on the basis of a contingency-fee, up to 27,5% (including VAT if applicable) of the recovered amounts will be paid to the Funder in case of success. The ultimate Fee shall be reasonable and adequate, as subject to the Foundation’s Board’s and Supervisory Board’s approval, negotiation results and Court approval. In return, participants of the Foundation can join the Foundation’s cause for free.
The Board and the Supervisory Board of the Foundation will both make efforts (pursuant to Article 3: 305a, paragraph 2, sub b of the Dutch Civil Code) to involve participants (who have entered into a Participation Agreement with the Foundation) as much as reasonably possible in the decision making process on important issues. In particular, the Foundation will consult its constituency about the distribution of any financial compensation that may be obtained for (part of) the damage that its Participants claim to have suffered in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1, sub c of its Articles of Association, as well as about a potential settlement proposal as referenced in Article 10 of the Articles of Association. The Foundation may organize consultation of its participants on these matters through holding (digital) meetings such as “web-casts” or other forms of online communication.
The Foundation’s Board is responsible for the day to day business of the Foundation.
The members of the Board receive a remuneration of EUR 12.000 per year and EUR 15.000 for the Chairperson. In addition, the Foundation has a Supervisory Board. Its members receive a remuneration of EUR 10.000 per year and EUR 12.500 for the Chairperson. Additional hours above a certain threshold may be invoiced for a rate of EUR 200 per Board and Supervisory Board member, and EUR 250 for the Chairperson of the Board and Supervisory Board. Reasonable travelling costs and other costs and disbursements are reimbursed. Further details about members are included earlier in the About Us section.
In addition, reference is made to the Foundation’s Articles of Association. The 2023 Annual Board Report, 2023 Annual Supervisory Board Report and Governance Statement 2023, as referred in the Claim Code 2019 are also available to review. The Foundation’s previous reports can be found here: 2022 Annual Board Report, 2022 Annual Supervisory Board Report, Governance Statement 2022, 2021 Annual Board Report, 2021 Annual Supervisory Board Report, Governance Statement 2021, 2020 Annual Board Report, 2020 Annual Supervisory Board Report, Governance Statement 2020, 2019 Annual Board Report, 2019 Annual Supervisory Board Report and Governance Statement 2019.
If you would like to contact us in writing, you may do so here:
Stichting Diesel Emissions Justice
Herengracht 449A
1017 BR Amsterdam
The Netherlands
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