Competition and Antitrust

Why choose our Antitrust lawyers?

Competition laws around the world are becoming more complex, and regulators are more interventionist than ever before in investigating and enforcing against businesses. The penalties for non-compliance are often severe and there is rarely a clear distinction between what is permitted and what is unlawful. Personal consequences following adverse findings, such as director disqualification and even criminal prosecution of directors, are increasingly common.

Our services include:

• Investigation support. We advise parties to many of the biggest, most complex antitrust investigations, including the investigations into demolition and asbestos services, groundworks services, the musical instruments sector, and the purchase of labour in the television sector. Our offering includes specialist Dawn Raids support, and we always anticipate the impact that taking early steps in responding to investigations can have on later enforcement and damages actions.
• Director disqualification. We represent directors in CMA disqualification proceedings. A number of 'leave to act' applications have been made by disqualified directors to the High Court, and we acted on one of only two to succeed when contested by the CMA.
• Mergers and foreign investment. We assist clients in relation to merger and foreign investment filings, investigations and appeals against regulatory decisions.
• Strategic risk and compliance advice. We recognise that antitrust laws can be helpful tools by which to secure commercial advantage as well as compliance risk issues. We help clients gain a commercial edge, while protecting themselves from investigation and enforcement.