International Competition & Trade
McGuireWoods London advises on European competition and antitrust issues including merger control, cartels, abuse of dominance/market power, market/sectoral investigations, EU State aid, private competition litigation, and reviews and appeals of regulatory decisions. We also coordinate and advise on multijurisdictional competition matters across the world, liaising as necessary with trusted local counsel.
We work with clients ranging from large worldwide players to start-ups to design innovative solutions to deal with competition law concerns. Our relationships with and knowledge of the European Commission and other regulators allow us to efficiently guide clients through the maze of rules that apply in Europe and elsewhere.
Merger control: We act for transacting parties and third-party interveners on numerous high-profile, first- and second-phase merger control investigations at the EU and national level, including cases settled by remedies. Our lawyers coordinate regulatory clearances in multiple jurisdictions for cross-border mergers, acquisitions and joint venture transactions.
Investigations: Our lawyers represent complainants and defendants in investigations before the European Commission and other regulators, including making leniency applications, defending and settling multijurisdictional cartel investigations, and advising on abuse of dominance investigations and complaints. We also carry out internal investigations for clients, including attending “dawn raids.”
Counseling/Commercial Agreements: We advise on competition law issues that affect businesses, large or small, on a day-to-day basis. This includes reviewing commercial agreements and practices in the areas of franchising, distribution, R&D, agency, licensing, supply, parallel imports, pricing/rebates, refusal to supply/access to facilities, and discrimination, and cooperation agreements between competitors. We also interface between intellectual property and competition law.
Compliance: We analyze clients’ specific needs to establish and maintain tailored competition law compliance procedures. Our team advises on internal audits, provides training and creates written compliance programs and manuals for clients. We also provide stand-alone training/CLE/CPD sessions.
Private competition litigation and appeals: Our competition lawyers work closely with our litigators in London and the firm’s other offices to bring, defend and settle private claims for damages or other measures in national courts. We have cutting-edge experience defending “follow-on” claims for damages in the UK courts. We also bring actions before the EU courts and national courts, appealing decisions in all areas of competition law and acting for individuals defending their personal interests arising out of competition law violations in the EU.
Market and sectoral investigations: Market-specific investigations in the EU can dramatically alter the competitive landscape in an industry. Clients look to us for assistance monitoring, influencing and making submissions to investigations as they progress.
EU State Aid: Clients turn to our team for support navigating EU-specific State aid rules. They may seek state support, may wish to complain about state support to a competitor, or need to defend themselves against alleged receipt of illegal aid.
EU Law: Our lawyers also deal with EU internal market and regulatory law, including free movement of goods, personal data protection, environmental regulation, public procurement, anti-dumping, sanctions and trade.
