Stephen practises in all aspects of competition law. He has extensive experience in contentious competition matters including cartels, market investigations and competition litigation (follow-on damages, stand-alone litigation and regulatory appeals) as well as providing non-contentious strategic competition advice and advising on mergers. He has been involved in competition disputes since the start of his career and has been involved in numerous cases in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) since its inception in 2001. He is a qualified solicitor advocate and has appeared as an advocate in the CAT. His particular sectoral experience is in relation to media (particularly broadcasting), telecoms, energy and pharmaceuticals and professional services. Stephen works on large and complex competition and economic regulatory disputes and investigations involving highly technical expert evidence.
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In July 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) published its market study final report “Online platforms and digital advertising” (“Report”) (see the Report here). The Report includes significant recommendations on the future regulation of platforms funded by digital advertising, (...)
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on its approach to merger control during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance deals with procedural issues as well as substantive assessment, and makes it clear that on the whole the CMA’s approach remains one of ‘business as (...)
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On 8 April 2020 the Commission published a ‘Temporary framework for assessing antitrust issues related to business cooperation in response to situations of urgency stemming from the current COVID-19 outbreak’ (Temporary Framework). The Commission recognises the exceptional challenges faced by (...)
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On 10 March 2020 the UK Court of Appeal handed down its hotly anticipated judgment in Flynn Pharma Limited & Anr vs Competition and Markets Authority. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was seeking to reinstate record fines totalling £89.4m imposed on pharmaceutical companies (...)
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On 31 January 2020, at 11pm GMT, the UK ceased to be a Member State of the EU and the transition period provided for in Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement started to run. This briefing looks at the provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement that are relevant for merger control, both during the (...)
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On 10th May 2019 the CMA secured the disqualification of three former directors of companies involved in a bid rigging cartel in the design, construction and fit-out services sector. The three directors have given legally binding disqualification undertakings under which they will be banned (...)
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In a preliminary ruling request made by the Finnish Supreme Court on the question of the relevant entities liable for damages, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that principles applied in order to determine the relevant entities for liability for fines under Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (...)
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On 11 February 2019 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) upheld the CMA’s first infringement decision for breach of an interim order imposed on a completed merger under investigation. Electro Rent had served a break notice on the lease of its UK premises without first seeking the CMA’s consent (...)
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On 7 September 2018, the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") handed down its judgment in Ping upholding the Competition and Market Authority ("CMA")’s decision that Ping’s online sales ban ("OSB") constituted a restriction of competition by object under EU and UK competition law. The aim of (...)
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The General Court’s ruling in Goldman Sachs’ appeal in the power cables cartel confirms that the bank was jointly and severally liable for the conduct of Prysmian, one of the cartelists, because of the nature of its investment in the company. The General Court confirmed that the Commission was (...)
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For the first time since the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) came into force the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has provided guidance on the scope the standstill obligation (Article 7(1) EUMR) which prevents parties implementing their transaction before the EU Commission issues a clearance (...)
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Already, 2017 has seen significant developments in the UK’s competition litigation landscape. Most recently, last Friday the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) allowed the first ’class action’ brought under the new competition law collective redress regime to continue, at least for now, providing (...)
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On 14 Jul the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) issued its judgment in the damages claim brought by Sainsbury’s against MasterCard. The CAT found that MasterCard’s setting of UK multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) for its payment cards infringed the Article 101 TFEU/Chapter I prohibition on (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 15 May 2015, the Court of Appeal (by a 2:1 majority) upheld a challenge to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the "CAT") ruling which (...)
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Ryanair Holdings Plc (“Ryanair”) and Aer Lingus Group plc (“Aer Lingus”) are Irish low-cost airline competitors that share more than 40 routes from and to Ireland. On 7 March 2014 in case 1219/4/8/13 Ryanair Holdings PLC v Competition Commission [2014] CAT 3, the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT" (...)
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Introduction The Office of Fair Trading (’OFT’) in a Short Form Opinion dated 23 August 2012 has indicated that a proposed price recommendation to be made by two rural associations, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) (collectively the Parties) (...)
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1. Introduction and overview The European Commission (the "Commission") on 11 June 2013 adopted a package of measures aimed at facilitating competition law private actions in the EU. The package consists of: A proposal for a Directive on competition law private damages actions in the EU (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 1 April 2011, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the "CAT") handed down its judgment on the appeal made by certain participants in the (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 21 November 2008, the Office of Fair Trading (the "OFT") announced its decision to seek undertakings from SRCL Limited (" SRCL") in (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 19 October 2006, the Court of Appeal issued its ruling in an appeal involving Argos, Littlewoods and JJB under the Competition Act (...)
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