Competition litigation

Furthermore, the growth in collective redress and group litigation mechanisms, in particular through the introduction of an "opt-out" competition class action regime in the UK in October 2015, has gained considerable momentum.

We are at the forefront of these developments and ideally placed to deal with the substantive, procedural and tactical challenges in this rapidly evolving area. We help clients set strategy, manage risks and conduct disputes, working with them to achieve successful resolutions, whether in court or by settlement.

Appeals of antitrust, merger and economic regulatory decisions are also increasingly common, given the high stakes involved. We guide clients across multiple jurisdictions through the decision whether to launch an appeal, and conduct complex and often highly technical challenges to the decisions of competition and economic regulators, both on behalf of addressees and third parties.  We have a significant track record of delivering excellent results for clients in such business critical disputes.

We are consistently instructed on the largest, most high profile competition litigation cases. Our cross-practice team is integrated within our Competition, Regulation and Trade team and the wider Dispute Resolution team, providing clients with a seamless service taking a cartel case, for example, from leniency application to dawn raid to appeal to damages action, and managing the interplay between public and private enforcement.

The practice is supported by our innovative and cost-effective Belfast-based document review and management function, with advanced facilities for reviewing and analysing the large volumes of documents found in major contentious cases. This means we offer an additional edge in competition litigation, particularly where relevant cases progress towards the disclosure stage.