Competition Disputes

We handle the most complex and high-profile competition disputes across multiple sectors and jurisdictions, often involving significant financial and reputational risk.

Our clients trust us for our expert knowledge of competition law issues and our deep litigation expertise. We’re valued for our strategic insight and ability to manage high-profile complex litigation and to secure successful outcomes.

We advise clients through all stages of competition-related disputes, whether arising from investigations or stand-alone litigation before the Courts and before first instance or appeal Courts. We advise on pure competition law disputes and have particular expertise in cases involving the intersection of competition law and IP rights, as well as complex commercial matters with competition law issues.

We advise clients on:

• class actions (known as collective proceedings in the UK) before the Competition Appeal Tribunal;
• damages actions before the English Courts – both follow-on and stand-alone claims;
• stand-alone competition law disputes whether in relation to anti-competitive agreements or abuses of dominance and seeking urgent interim relief for breaches of competition law rules;
• complex commercial litigation raising competition law issues;
• appeals against decisions imposed by regulators – whether before the English Courts in relation to UK regulators or the Court of Justice in relation to EU regulators;
• challenges against public tender awards or subsidies; and
• judicial review cases raising regulatory or competition law issues.

Our highly experienced litigators and competition law experts understand the commercial pressures behind every dispute and use their deep knowledge of litigation strategy to advance claims or defences, efficiently and effectively. 

Work highlights include:

• assisting Daimler Truck with its strategy to ensure that UK Trucks Claim Ltd’s opt-out claim was not certified;
• successfully striking out opt-out collective proceedings against Performing Rights Society in connection with a dispute over the fairness of the distribution of music performance royalties;
• defending Prysmian in relation to an opt-out claim on behalf of UK domestic purchasers of electricity arising from alleged breaches of competition law;
• acting on behalf of Flynn Pharma, successfully overturning the CMA’s 2016 phenytoin decision and fighting all the way to the Supreme Court and successfully reinstating the right to recover litigation costs from the CMA;
• defending NatWest Markets in connection with the UK’s first ever carriage dispute arising from competing collective proceedings following on from the Commission’s FX cartel decision;
• defending Daimler Truck in relation to damages claims arising from the European Commission’s trucks cartel decision;
• defending Prysmian in relation to multiple claims for damages arising from the European Commission’s power cables cartel decision;
• assisting Perse Technology to obtain an interim injunction against ElectraLink, the first ever interim injunction obtained before the Competition Appeal Tribunal in stand-alone proceedings;
• supporting Genius Sports with a stand-alone claim relating to the collection and supply of live football betting data; and
• supporting ZF with its defence of a damages claim brought by Stellantis arising from one of the European Commission’s automotive parts decisions.