BLG’s competition and EU team is composed of competition law specialists with extensive experience both of working in private practice and for the regulatory authorities. The team handles both advisory and contentious matters, and on contentious matters works closely with our market leading litigation practice.

Our approach is pragmatic: we offer succinct advice on the legal position combined with an informed assessment of enforcement risk. We have a detailed understanding of our clients’ businesses, building on our first hand experience of a range of industry sectors including dairy, food, retailing, healthcare, engineering, financial services, insurance, and media. The team is led by partner David Strang, with senior level assistance from Sheila Tormey, an associate director who joined the firm from the Office of Fair Trading. David’s entry in Chambers & Partners, 2009 notes that he “does not get hung up on unimportant matters”. The firm is also ranked in the Legal 500. In addition to publishing articles on a regular basis, the team writes the merger control chapter of Tolley’s Company Law.

Areas of competition law on which we have advised extensively include:

Transactional

• advising on UK and EU merger filing requirements and securing clearances, where appropriate, in conjunction with consulting economists and overseas lawyers;
• advising third parties such as hedge funds with an interest in the outcome of merger control procedures; and 
• making third party submissions during the course of merger control.

Investigatory

• defending businesses which have been charged with competition law infringements; and 
• assisting businesses involved in sectoral investigations.

Advisory

• assisting clients to ensure that their commercial agreements comply with competition law; and 
• reviewing trading and pricing strategies for companies with dominant or significant market positions.