Benjamin Croft

Ben is a partner in Leigh Day’s International and Group Litigation department. Ben’s practice covers civil litigation and large-scale consumer, environmental and human rights group actions, including leadership of complex, high-value, multi-party claims. He has expertise in international legal disputes, including choice of law and jurisdictional challenges.

Legal expertise

Before working at Leigh Day, Ben trained and worked as a commercial litigator and public lawyer with a specialism in complex asylum and national security cases involving closed material procedures, including Special Immigration Appeal Commission appeals against deportation and deprivation of citizenship, applications for judicial review and appeals against the imposition of Control Orders/Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures.

Since moving to Leigh Day in 2012, Ben has specialised in large-scale consumer, environmental and human rights group actions. 

Ben is currently representing almost 40,000 Claimants in the Peugeot/Citroen and Vauxhall diesel emissions claims before the High Court, and is one of Leigh Day’s lead partners with oversight of the Pan-Nox Emissions Group Litigation trial on liability which was heard over 3 months in October 2025, and preparing for the quantum trial in October 2026. The case featured in one of the Lawyers top 20 cases of 2025.

Key Cases

Product Liability/Consumer group claims

• Pan Nox Emission Group Litigation which involves 1.6 million claimants represented by a number of legal firms against 14 manufacturers. Leigh Day is co-Counsel with Pogust Goodhead in the majority of the claims. Ben is instructed by 40,000 Claimants in the claims against Peugeot/Citroën and Vauxhall; the former case was selected as a lead claim in the Pan Nox Emissions Group Litigation. Since 2020 Ben has been one of Leigh Day’s lead partners managing the preparation for the PDD trial on liability in October 2025.
• Zimmer group product liability litigation in respect of allegedly defective metal on metal hips.

Human Rights

• Iraq civilian litigation – claims on behalf of hundreds of Iraqi civilians in claims against the Ministry of Defence for allegations of assaults, unlawful detentions, in human and degrading treatment, torture and unlawful killings by British soldiers in Iraq between 2003 and 2010.
• HTF and ZMS v Ministry of Defence – claims for compensation by Iraqi civilians detained by British forces in Iraq and then handed over to US Forces who, they claim, subjected them to various abuses including hooding, excessive sensory and sleep deprivation, loud noise, solitary confinement, sexual and physical assaults by male and female US officers.
• A judicial review of the Home Secretary’s decision  not to allow entry to the UK for a number of refugees and asylum seekers who had been stranded on an MoD base in Cyprus since 1998 ( Bashir & Ors v SSHD (Defendant) and Sovereign Base Area Authority (SBAA) [2016] EWHC 954);
• Vilca and Others v Xstrata Limited and Compania Minera Antapaccay SA, a group personal injury and human rights claim against a British mining company brought on behalf of group of 22 Peruvian citizens who allegedly suffered significant harm during a public protest regarding the impact of the mine on their local community. There were a number of reported judgments in the claim relating to the scope of e-disclosure; the Court’s power to order a re-review; disclosure of previous expert reports; late amendments to statements of case; and the effect of amendments under CPR 17.4 in Rome II cases. The case was described by the Lawyer as one of the top 20 cases in 2016. 

Equal Pay/Discrimination group claims

• Leigh Day is represented over 118,000 workers in equal pay claims against Britain’s supermarket giants. These claims challenge the idea that work traditionally done by women in stores is of less value than that traditionally done by men in the distribution centres. Ben advised in relation to Leigh Day’s equal pay claims against Tesco, particularly in relation to disclosure.
• Ben also assisted in relation to Leigh Day’s claims on behalf of approximately 230 judges who challenged the UK government’s decision forcing younger judges to leave the Judicial Pension Scheme.

Public law prior to joining Leigh Day

• AH Iraq [2009] EWCA Civ 620 (Iraq ‘Country Guidance’);
• Matovu v SSHD [2010] EWHC 357 (appeal against deportation);
• FA Iraq [2011] UKSC 22 (on the question of whether applicants for humanitarian protection were entitled to a right of appeal on a refusal)
• U1, S1, T1 and V1 v SSHD [2011] UKSIAC 106/2011 (deprivation of citizenship)
• XX v SSHD [2011] EWCA Civ 860 (appeal against deportation on the grounds of national security);
• G1 v SSHD CO/9760/2010 (deprivation of citizenship);
• CE v SSHD [2011] EWHC 3159 (Control Order appeal).