Antitrust Litigation

Our team has a wealth of expertise in advising clients on bringing and defending their most significant actions, both at the EU and national level.

We advise on cases heard by the EU courts in Luxembourg, specialist competition tribunals, arbitral tribunals, in alternative dispute resolution proceedings and in connected procedures involving the European Commission and National Competition Authorities and Regulators.

We are experienced in advising on standalone, follow-on and hybrid claims. We also regularly advise on complex questions of forum, choice of law and limitations, often using the flexibility of jurisdictional rules to best effect for our clients.

Our expertise enables us to devise litigation strategies which take into account the issues presented by differences in procedures and practice across jurisdictions. We routinely advise and represent clients where there is litigation and agency enforcement action taking place at the same time in a number of different jurisdictions.

Within the EU, our teams are based in each of the main jurisdictions where antitrust cases are brought - Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

We keep a close eye on recent developments and adapt our advise accordingly.

Some of those developments are:

• The growing number of cartel damages claims
• The willingness of European courts to accept jurisdiction in cartel damages cases
• Use of competition arguments to secure commercial advantage in litigation
• Rise of specialist competition tribunals
• Criminalisation of cartels and extradition of executives
• Increased availability of funding for cartel victims
• Implementation of the EU Damages Directive to harmonise critical aspects of damages claims across the EU
• Radical UK reforms to promote class actions, fast track procedures, collective settlements and redress schemes
• Importance of antitrust law in patent litigation concerning standard essential patents
• The increased availability of effective injunctive relief in case of competition law infringements