White & Case (London)

Charles Balmain

White & Case (London)
Partner

Charles Balmain is a partner in the Global Commercial Litigation Practice. He brings a strong international perspective to formal court or arbitral proceedings, representing clients in precedent-setting disputes before the English courts and in multiple offshore jurisdictions, as well as in numerous international arbitrations, principally conducted under ICC or LCIA rules. Charles Balmain formerly served as head of the firm’s EMEA Disputes Section for Commercial Litigation and White Collar practitioners. He has previously practiced in White & Case’s Brussels and Paris offices. With a background in EU law, Charles has also successfully acted for clients in numerous competition damages claims before both the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the High Court, as well as in market and merger inquiries performed by the UK competition authorities.

Distinctions

Linked authors

White & Case (Brussels)
White & Case (Washington)
White & Case (Boston)
White & Case (Riyadh)
White & Case (New York)

Articles

34580 Bulletin

Mark D. Powell, Charles Balmain, Marc Israel, Raif Hassan, Mark J. Gidley The UK Court of Appeal adjusts-down a follow-on damages award in a cartel case and emphasises the principle that damages may only be compensatory, not punitive (BritNed / ABB)

13

In BritNed v ABB, the English Court of Appeal substantially reduced the UK’s first award of damages in a so-called cartel damages claim brought for breach of European competition law. In so doing, the Court rejected calls for a more strict and punitive approach to damages in cartel claims. The (...)

Börries Ahrens, Charles Balmain The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf upholds a judgment of the Regional Court of Düsseldorf in a cartel in the cement sector (German cement cartel)

359

This article has been nominated for the 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Cartel Damage Claims, a Belgian SPV for the collection of follow-on damages in antitrust litigation, has lost an appeal against six members of the so-called (...)

Charles Balmain, Jean-Paul Tran Thiet, Mark D. Powell, Mark J. Gidley The UK Court of Appeal requires French defendants to comply with disclosure orders despite the French "blocking statute" (Secretary of State for Health / Servier Laboratories)

236

This article has been nominated for the 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. The existence in several countries of “blocking statutes”, which prohibit the provision of economic information to foreign authorities or courts (or require prior (...)

Charles Balmain, John Reynolds The UK Government opts into class actions

199

This article has been nominated for the 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Government proposals in brief The Government’s proposals are contained in its response to the consultation on options for reform of private competition actions (...)

Charles Balmain, David Smales The UK Court of Appeal overturns the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s decision in a pro-defendant judgment on follow-on damages actions (BCL / BASF)

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On 22 May 2009, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in BCL v BASF , ruling that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”), had erred in allowing what was, in the opinion of the Court of Appeal, a time-barred damages claim to proceed. The judgment will provide welcome legal certainty to (...)

Charles Balmain, Iva Philipova The UK Court of Appeal overturns the finding by the High Court of an abuse of dominance in litigation between private parties (Attheraces / British Horseracing Board)

5540

Background A recent decision of the Court of Appeal has reversed the first ever High Court finding of an Article 82 infringement in litigation between private parties. Attheraces v British Horseracing Board was an appeal from the High Court decision of Justice Etherton. The Judge who had held (...)

Charles Balmain, Iva Philipova The UK House of Lords issues a landmark judgment on delineation of the spheres of competence of the EC Commission and the national courts in the context of the decentralization of EC competition law (Crehan)

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House of Lords, 19 July 2006, Inntrepreneur Pub Company (CPC) and others v. Crehan, [2006] UKHL 38 The Background This is a recent development in the long line of tying cases in the UK beer market. In this case, the House of Lords allowed the appeal of Inntrepreneur Pub Company against an (...)

Charles Balmain, James Johnson The UK Competition Appeals Tribunal receives the first claim for damages based on abuse of dominant position (Healthcare at Home / Genzyme)

9075

Healthcare at Home Limited (“HH”) has brought a claim for damages before the Competition Appeals Tribunal (“CAT”) against Genzyme Limited (“GL”) pursuant to section 47A of the Competition Act 1998. This is the third claim for damages to have been brought before the CAT pursuant to section 47A of the (...)

Carrie Radford, Charles Balmain The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal decides for the first time on claims for damages breaching Article 101 TFEU under national competition provision (Vitamins)

4282

Background These two cases, heard concurrently before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT” or “Tribunal”) were the first (and so far the only) claims for damages to be brought pursuant to Section 47A of the Competition Act 1998 (the “Act”). Section 47A of the Act is a significant legislative (...)

Charles Balmain The UK High Court emphasises the need for claimants to ensure that they have robust evidence of an alleged breach to avoid being thrown out on summary judgment (Wireless / RAJAR)

5336

Mr. Justice Lloyd’s recent judgment in the Wireless / RAJAR case (handed down on 16 December 2004), demonstrates certain of the procedural and evidential difficulties faced by private litigants seeking damages for alleged breaches of competition law before the English Courts. The Claimant, (...)

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