Antitrust and competition
Antitrust investigations
The impact of internationally co-ordinated enforcement continues to be a key consideration for companies seeking to limit their exposure to antitrust investigations and sanctions. Our leading experience ensures a co-ordinated approach to global risk management.
We have unrivalled experience representing clients in cartel investigations, which increasingly involves developing comprehensive global defence strategies from the very outset of an investigation (whether in response to a dawn raid or deciding whether to apply for leniency). As authorities often co-operate across multiple geographies, decisions made at the earliest stage in one jurisdiction could have major implications for a company’s financial and reputational exposure in other countries over a lengthy period ahead. Our global team is uniquely well placed to advise clients on these complex decisions, which often need to be taken quickly in order to minimise risk.
We also help clients operating in markets featuring players with high levels of market power deal with abuse-of-dominance and unilateral conduct allegations, such as excessively high or low prices, discounts and rebates, discrimination between customers and refusal to supply a customer without good reason.
As the nature and scope of antitrust investigations develops and expands, and authorities employ more sophisticated investigative techniques, companies need to be wary of infringing competition rules across an increasingly wide range of commercial conduct, including online selling and more traditional distribution systems, use of data and pricing algorithms, licensing intellectual property and establishing joint ventures and other forms of co-operation with competitors. Our involvement in leading cases at the cutting edge of these areas enables us to help our clients remain antitrust compliant and defend their interests in the event of an investigation.
Our end-to-end expertise spans effective dawn-raid responses, co-ordination of leniency applications and navigation of settlement procedures with multiple regulators, through to related litigation, including follow-on damages claims and appeals of infringement decisions.
Our lawyers also frequently advise clients facing wide-ranging sector and market investigations conducted by competition authorities and sector regulators. We help clients respond to information requests, appear in oral hearings, and negotiate appropriate structural and behavioural remedies during these inquiries and in any follow-up investigations and litigation.
We advise both complainants and defendants, which regularly involves proceedings before multiple authorities and courts worldwide.
