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Tim Ward QC is widely recognised as a leading litigator and advocate in the fields of EU, competition, and public law. Directories describe him as “incredibly quick” and a “persuasive advocate”, and recommend him for public and administrative law, civil liberties and human rights, EU/competition law and telecommunications law. He was described recently by the Competition Appeal Tribunal as an “outstanding competition law counsel”.

He has particular expertise in commercial and regulatory matters. He has recently acted in disputes concerning Ofcom, Ofgem, Ofwat, the Competition Commission, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Competiton and Markets Authority, the Financial Services Authority, PhonepayPlus and the Rugby Football Union. He has acted in around 50 cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union or General Court, and has over 30 reported cases in the field of public law.

Prior to taking silk, Tim was a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel. He was awarded ‘Barrister of the Year’ at The Lawyer Awards 2013, details of which can be viewed here. He was shortlisted for EU/Competition Silk of the Year at the Chambers Bar Awards 2013. Tim was elected as Chairman of the Bar European Group, 2013-2015.

Tim has been appointed to the Rugby Football Union panel to sit as an adjudicator hearing appeals concerning competition issues.

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Mr Justice Marcus Smith was appointed to the Chancery Division of the High Court, and additionally sits as a Chairman in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) and the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery). As a barrister (call 1991, silk 2010), he specialised in commercial and commercial chancery work, including an extensive arbitration and regulatory practice.

Marcus has been a Chairman of the CAT since 2009, and has presided over cases spanning the entire range of the CAT’s jurisdiction, including appeals from the OFT/CMA/OFCOM, mergers (notably, Eurotunnel 1), follow-on claims (notably, Cardiff Bus and Deutsche Bahn) and stand-alone actions (notably, Sainsbury’s v. MasterCard).

Marcus has written extensively on legal topics, and is the co-author of The Law of Assignment (3rd ed forthcoming).

Michael Grenfell took up his role as Executive Director, Enforcement, at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on 15 July 2015.

Working closely with the Chief Executive, and as a member of the CMABoard, Michael’s role includes ensuring strategic leadership of the CMA’s enforcement portfolio.

Professor Pinar Akman is the Director of the Centre for Business Law and Practice at the School of Law, University of Leeds. Professor Akman has published widely in the area of competition law and economics. In 2017, she was awarded a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize in law. She is the author of the monograph The Concept of Abuse in EU Competition Law: Law and Economic Approaches (Hart Publishing, 2012). She is a Non-Governmental Advisor to the UK and to Turkey for the International Competition Network. She is a member of the ESRC Peer Review College; Florence Competition Programme Scientific Committee (EUI); jury of the Antitrust Writing Awards (Concurrences); editorial board of World Competition and of Oxford Competition Law. In 2014, she was the International Rapporteur to the International League of Competition (LIDC) on abuse of dominance.

Professor Akman holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Ankara, and a PhD in Competition Law from the University of East Anglia. Her PhD was funded by an ORSAS award from the UK Secretary of State for Education and Science. At the University of East Anglia, she was one of the investigators who secured over £4 million in funding for the second five-year term of the ESRC Centre for Competition Policy. She remains an Associate Member of the Centre for Competition Policy.

Daniel Beard is widely regarded as one of the Bar’s leading specialists in competition, EU, regulatory and public law. He is noted as a “first rate” advocate.

He has appeared in courts from Haverfordwest to the Falkland Islands. He regularly appears in High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in the UK as well as in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

In EU law matters, Daniel has appeared in a large number of cases in the Court of Justice and General Court in Luxembourg.

He acts in arbitrations and his work has developed in various international jurisdictions including in the Middle East, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Daniel has won various awards for his work including Chambers and Partners EU and Competition Silk of the year and Legal 500 EU/Competition Silk of the Year.

Prior to taking silk, Daniel was a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel and standing Counsel to the Office of Fair Trading.

Alison Berridge is a competition law specialist barrister, representing clients in all aspects of competition regulation including merger reviews, antitrust investigations, sectoral regulation, judicial review and follow on and standalone damages claims. According to Who’s Who Legal (2017): “She is really, really good; an absolutely excellent practitioner.” She is co-author (with Alistair Lindsay) of The EU Merger Regulation: Substantive Issues (Sweet & Maxwell, 5th edition, 2017), a leading textbook on merger control issues.

Mark Bethell is a Manager in the Competition and Economics Division of the FCA, mainly considering issues and working on cases under the Competition Act 1998. Before joining in 2014, he was an Inquiry Director at the Competition Commission and previous roles include acting as one of the UK’s agents in European litigation, and as a case handler at the OFT during the early days of the Competition Act. He is a lawyer, with a career starting in private practice.

Scott is a Partner in Hausfeld’s London office and focusses on representing organisations with disputes arising out of breaches of competition law.  He has over a decade’s experience of litigating competition claims in the English High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Competition Appeal Tribunal as well as engaging in mediation.

Dr. Tobias Caspary is a partner in the Antitrust Department. He divides his time between Fried Frank’s London and Frankfurt offices.

His practice focuses on European, UK and German competition law. He advises and represents clients before the European Commission, the Competition Authority and Markets, and the German Federal Cartel Office. Prior to joining the Firm, Dr. Caspary practiced competition law for several years at another major international law firm in Brussels.

Dr. Caspary has worked on some of the largest and most complex cross-border mergers worldwide. He has advised in connection with numerous competition investigations, including Phase II cases before the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority and cartel investigations in sectors such as window mountings, car components and fuel surcharge. He has a strong focus on private equity, advising leading firms in this sector on numerous deals (Goldman Sachs, AEA Investors, New Mountain Capital).  He represents clients across a range of additional industries, including media (Ascential Group, Emap), telecoms (Virgin Media, Liberty Global), technology (Google, Coriant), and financial services (Tradeweb, Credit Benchmark).

He also advises on economic sanctions and other trade regulatory matters.

Avantika specialises in competition policy and litigation. She has provided economic advice to companies in relation to mergers, horizontal and vertical agreements, and abuse of dominance, including in the context of private litigation and investigations by the European Commission and other competition authorities in Europe and beyond. She has worked on these issues across a broad range of sectors. Avantika has particular expertise in issues involving intellectual property rights, having been involved in the leading cases on the IP/antitrust interface such as patent settlements in the pharmaceutical sector and standard-essential patent licensing. She is also an expert in damages quantification and has advised both claimants and defendants in cases arising from cartels, exclusionary conduct and patent infringements. Her clients include AstraZeneca, Dyson, Nokia, Nationwide Airlines, RWE, Skyscanner, Sandoz and Tesla.

Avantika is listed in the International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers & Economists Future Leaders and in ‘30 in their 30s’ Notable Women Competition Professionals. She is regularly involved in economics courses for EU judges and competition authorities across the globe.

Peter Davis is a senior vice president at Cornerstone Research, where he also leads the firm’s European competition practice. Dr Davis formerly held the post of deputy chairman of the UK Competition Commission (CC), where he sat on the Council (the CC’s strategic management board). He also acted as inquiry chairman at the CC for numerous mergers, as well as for competition and regulatory investigations. He has represented the UK authority in various international forums, including meetings of the Competition Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Competition Network (ICN).

As a consultant, Dr Davis is an industry-leading expert in competition economics, European regulatory matters, and follow-on damages actions. He has provided expert analyses in a variety of international disputes, including cases in the EU, United Kingdom, China, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

Dr Davis has been a faculty member at the London School of Economics and the MIT Sloan School of Management, and has served as president of the Association of Competition Economics. The coauthor of two books, his research is published in numerous journals, including the International Journal of Industrial Organization, the Journal of Econometrics, and the RAND Journal of Economics. Who’s Who Legal has named him a leading competition economist.

Natalie is a Senior Competition Lawyer at Lloyds Banking Group.  She advises on a wide range of competition matters and associated litigation related to behavioural issues, mergers & acquisitions, sector inquiries and state aid.  She has recently worked on the CMA’s market investigation into retail banking, as well as the CMA’s Phase I unconditional clearance of the acquisition by LBG of MBNA.  Natalie joined LBG in 2014, bringing with her over 10 years’ experience from Clifford Chance.

Paul is a well-known Leader in the field of commercial competition litigation, both in domestic Courts and Tribunals and in domestic and international arbitrations. He is currently/recently instructed in many of the highest value and profile competition proceedings in the country, such as the MasterCard Collective Proceedings litigation and the Trucks Cartel litigation. Recent arbitrations have included the international energy sector, international satellite services and the international sports/entertainment sector. Paul also continues to sit as an arbitrator.

Paul is noted for his ability and experience in expedited litigation, often commenced with urgent interim relief applications of one kind or another, including in Court in support of arbitrations.

Paul has considerable experience in litigation both for and against competition regulatory authorities in the U.K and EU, and in litigation involving decisions by many international regulatory authorities.

“He is very commercial and understands the client’s position. He is aggressive when he needs to be and can be very innovative as well.” – Chambers UK, 2017

“He’s incredibly bright and very good on his feet. A very forceful advocate, he doesn’t give up.”– Chambers UK, 2017

“Exceptional for commercial litigation and competition advice.” – Legal 500, 2016

“A ferocious litigator, who never fails to impress with his ability to take control.” – Legal 500, 2016

“Incredibly fearless, incisive and decisive.” “He is insightful and incredible both on his feet and also in preparation.” “His cross-examination was phenomenal and really persuasive.” – Chambers UK, 2016.

Kenny is a commercial litigator with particular expertise in competition litigation, having represented clients on some of the highest profile claims filed in Europe to date. Clients instruct Kenny repeatedly, recognising his strategic thinking and the practical solutions that he delivers.

Kenny has represented multinational clients on competition claims, including in global and European cartels damages claims.

Kenny has successfully litigated bet-the-company claims, including on expedited timetables to trial. Kenny also advises clients on seeking and defending injunctive relief.

Kenny has been described as a “rising star” by Commercial Dispute Resolution. He is an acknowledged leader in the fast-developing field of competition litigation. Unusually, Kenny has experience acting for both claimants and defendants, giving him useful insights on strategy and approach.

Fred has a broad background working on competition law matters in private practice, in-house and as an enforcer.   He is a Project Director within the Competition and Markets Authority.

Nathalie is an Assistant Director in the Antitrust team at the CMA, with many years of experience in the public sector and top-tier law firms in London. She has investigated abuses of dominance and anti-competitive agreements in a variety of sectors, including digital economy, payment cards, press and estate agents. She has worked as a competition lawyer for Fried Frank and as an associate in competition law at Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier. She is General Secretary for LIDC – International League of Competition Law.

Jason is a Senior Legal Counsel in Sky’s competition and regulatory team, advising on all aspects of EU and UK competition law, as well as comms regulation.  Jason has advised on a number of investigations before UK and EU bodies, as well as on litigation before the CAT and Court of Appeal.

Prior to joining Sky in 2013, Jason was in private practice at Watson, Farley & Williams, where he advised companies, national regulators and governments on competition law and policy.

James is a Director in the CMA’s Sector Regulation Unit, which is responsible for working with the regulators to develop effective competition enforcement in the regulated sectors, including through the concurrent application of competition law and policy work.  James has particular responsibility for CMA’s relationship with the Civil Aviation Authority, Monitor, the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation, the Office of Rail and Road and Ofwat.  He co-chairs the UK Competition Network working group.

James is also the Project Director for the CMA’s rail policy project and member of CMA’s Senior Leadership Team.

James was previously a senior economist in the competition team at Ashurst LLP.  In his early career, James worked as an economist at both the OFT and the Competition Commission.

Niamh McCarthy is a Barrister admitted to the Bar of England and Wales.  Her role is Head of Competition Law at International Airlines Group which owns British Airways and Iberia.

Niamh previously worked at British Airways (2002-2010) as Competition and Regulatory from the Barrister’s chambers 12 Grays Inn Square.

She holds degrees from Trinity College Dublin and the College of Europe in Bruges.

Timothy McIver’s practice focuses on EU and UK competition law and regulatory matters, including obtaining clearance for complex merger investigations before the European Commission and UK competition authorities, as well as coordinating merger approvals across multiple jurisdictions worldwide. On the contentious side, he has broad experience advising on behavioural matters, including EU and UK investigations of alleged abuses of dominance, market investigations and studies, as well as representing clients before various UK sectoral regulators. Much of his work is international in nature and involves counselling clients on their global antitrust strategy. He has particular experience advising in the fields of financial services, technology, chemicals, energy (electricity and gas), natural resources, aviation, communications and private equity.

Richard Neville is a lawyer in Warner Bros.’ London office.

Richard advises on a wide range of commercial matters for Warner Bros. He has considerable experience of the interface between competition law and intellectual property law and manages all significant competition matters for Warner Bros. in EMEA, securing merger clearances and advising on all aspects of competition law.

Richard studied at King’s College London University and Passau University.

Nicola Northway is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s London office. An experienced competition lawyer, she was named among Global Competition Review’s Women in Antitrust in 2017.

Before joining the Firm, Nicola was managing director of the global competition team at Barclays Bank, coordinating advice and strategy for all competition matters in 50 jurisdictions. She was also general counsel at the UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) for three years. Prior to that, she was in private practice. Nicola was called to the bar in 1989 and during her training worked in the legal service of the European Commission and in the Chambers of the British Advocate General at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Colin Raftery is Director of Mergers at the Competition and Markets Authority, where he leads the CMA’s team on a variety of merger cases and policy initiatives.  Prior to joining the CMA, Colin advised on all aspects of EU and UK competition law at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London and, before that, at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels and Washington DC.  Colin holds an undergraduate degree in law from the University of Edinburgh and postgraduate degrees in law from the College of Europe, Bruges, and the University of Chicago.

Louise is a Senior Competition Lawyer at BT.  Louise advises on the full range of competition and regulatory law issues, with a particular focus on downstream areas of the business.  Louise has recently worked on BT’s CAT appeal of Ofcom’s decision to withdraw the WMO obligation from Sky and on BT’s recent commitments to Ofcom in relation to Ofcom’s standalone fixed voice review.

Prior to joining BT 3 years ago, Louise was an Associate at Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co LLP (now Gowling WLG).  In this role, Louise advised clients in a broad range of sectors on anti-competitive agreements and practices, merger control, follow on damages litigation, regulatory investigations, public procurement and compliance.

Louise studied at Cambridge University, BBP Law School and King’s College London.

Susanna Rogers is an antitrust, competition and regulatory lawyer based in London. She focuses her practice on contentious competition and regulatory matters, cartels and investigations and competition compliance. Susanna is a trusted advisor to clients in a wide variety of industries, including energy, financial institutions, life sciences and healthcare, technology and innovation and transport.

Susanna previously worked for a UK sector regulator where she was responsible for a wide range of competition and regulatory matters, from CA98 investigations (including forensic dawn raids) to price controls, licence enforcement and judicial review. She offers a broad range of services to clients including advising on investigations and dawn raid readiness and developing and implementing effective compliance programmes. Susanna is also responsible for the creation and management of knowledge for the global antitrust and competition group.

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Mark Simpson is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP in the antitrust and competition practice group, based in London.  He is also the head of the London trade team.  Mark specialises in advising on competition investigations and related litigation, including follow-on cases, regulatory appeals and judicial review.

Mark currently involved in a number of investigations before the European Commission and the UK authorities, including in relation to cartel allegations, other potentially anti-competitive arrangements and abuse of dominance complaints.  He regularly advises clients on preparing for and dealing with dawn raids and investigations, and on challenging actions by regulators.  He is also a standing adviser on competition issues to a UK sector regulator, and has authored a report on the use of concurrent competition powers.

Mark’s perspective is informed by having spent two periods as an in-house adviser, most recently as a senior competition counsel at a telecommunications company.

Luke is a senior associate in the Global Antitrust Disputes Practice. He advises international financial and corporate clients in relation to competition proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, High Court and Court of Appeal, including challenges to the decisions of regulators, follow on and standalone cartel damages claims.

“Jon Turner QC is lauded as “an incisive, commercially focused and adaptable team player” who hoovers up much of the best work in the market” (Chambers, 2011).  He is the first ranked silk in The Legal 500’s European and Competition category and a Chambers “Star Performer”: “Turner ‘combines approachability with prodigious intellect and a willingness to get stuck in’. Turner’s ‘ability both to be part of, and ultimately, to lead a team into court’ made him ‘one of the foremost QCs at the competition Bar‘. Chambers 2009 states: “Jon Turner QC is “a blessed barrister,” according to clients. As well as being “extremely bright and brilliant at recalling evidence,” he enjoys the untrammelled respect of both peers and clients“.

Jon is one of the finest advocates in Competition, EU, and Telecoms/Utilities law, as well as Commercial, Public, and Environmental law.  He is admired for his “incredible analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a case, as well as his powerful cross-examination skills” (Chambers, 2010), and as a “courtroom king who can dance round opponents” (Chambers, 2011).  Jon handles cases regularly in the appellate courts as well as at first instance, and is a first choice for advocacy in the European Courts.

Karen Williams is Head of Practical Law Competition. She has a postgraduate diploma in Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. Karen qualified at Linklaters and practised as an EU and competition lawyer for four years in their London and Brussels offices before moving to Chile, where she worked for a number of years as a consultant on EU affairs to the Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry. She joined Practical Law in January 2000.