Competition Law
UK Guide 2025 : London (Firms)
Band 1
Contact number
+44 20 7600 1200About
Provided by Slaughter and May
Many of the world’s leading companies turn to us for competition advice on their day-to-day operations as well as business critical projects and investigations. Our clients look to us to deliver outcome-focused advice with pragmatic commercial acumen.
We have a market leading practice in respect of merger control, antitrust (including cartels), sectoral regulation, competition litigation and State aid. That means we can put together a team best suited to work on any competition matter our clients face. We understand the objectives and priorities of the regulators, which enables us to achieve successful results.
We have been consistently ranked among the elite by the legal directories, with individual partners singled out as leaders in their field.
We have offices with market leading expertise in London, Brussels, Hong Kong and Beijing. We have 70 competition specialists spread across our international offices meaning we can handle even the largest and most complex projects.
We advise our clients worldwide. We have close ties with the competition practices of leading law firms across the globe. Our lawyers work with these local experts as a single team.
We focus on effective project and team management at every stage of a project. We also have cutting edge technology which we use on our projects to provide efficient use of resources and ways of working.
Chambers Review
Slaughter and May stands out for its ability to handle high-profile merger clearance mandates, assisting clients with phase I and II reviews before the CMA, as well as acting on highly contentious merger filings that involve disputes around jurisdictional issues. The law firm also offers notable experience in foreign direct investment filings and coordinates wider global regulatory approvals with counsel based in relevant jurisdictions. The team handles behavioural and market investigations for major clients and also boasts notable experience acting on abuse of dominance investigations and stand-alone claims brought in the UK courts. It enjoys a market-leading caseload of follow-on damages and collective proceedings and defending claims filed against various international clients. It also maintains a strong subsidy control practice, often assisting the providers of the subsidy.
Work Highlights
- Slaughter and May acted for Activision Blizzard on the UK competition aspects of its USD68.7 billion acquisition by Microsoft, including an appeal before the CAT of the CMA's decision to block the deal.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"Slaughter and May is very much aligned to how we operate and what our expectations are."
"The Slaughter and May team analyses complex matters, puts them into context and presents issues to the client in a reasoned, calm and digestible way."
"The lawyers are always helping us to push to find a solution to our commercial objectives, being quite creative in how they do that. They are super responsive."
"For the most complex work or urgent questions we have, the team is our first port of call. It has the ability to cut through very difficult matters and give very clear and business-friendly advice."
"The law firm has a very deep bench of expertise with lawyers that are simultaneously practical and strategic. They also offer excellent customer service in terms of responsiveness and turnaround time."
"Slaughter and May is very much aligned to how we operate and what our expectations are."
"The Slaughter and May team analyses complex matters, puts them into context and presents issues to the client in a reasoned, calm and digestible way."
"The lawyers are always helping us to push to find a solution to our commercial objectives, being quite creative in how they do that. They are super responsive."
"For the most complex work or urgent questions we have, the team is our first port of call. It has the ability to cut through very difficult matters and give very clear and business-friendly advice."
"The law firm has a very deep bench of expertise with lawyers that are simultaneously practical and strategic. They also offer excellent customer service in terms of responsiveness and turnaround time."
Notable Practitioners
Bertrand Louveaux offers noteworthy strength in phase I and II merger clearance reviews before the CMA, foreign direct investment filings and market studies. He co-chairs the firm's competition group.
"Bertrand Louveaux is an excellent leader of his team and clearly an expert in his field. He is unfailingly calm, knowledgeable and helpful to the client. You could not ask for a better lead."
"I think he is just incredibly impressive and a very gifted lawyer. You know that if you have a really difficult question, it is one for him."
"He is a trusted first port of call for the most technical questions."
"Bertrand Louveaux is a brilliant competition lawyer."
"He is quite unique and can blend his deep expertise with being incredibly commercial and practical."
Claire Jeffs has a strong reputation for acting on phase I and II merger clearance investigations before the CMA, assisting clients from the automotive, technology and telecommunications sectors. She co-chairs the firm's competition group and offers additional experience in appeals against competition law decisions before the General Court of the European Union.
"Claire Jeffs goes from strength to strength."
"Her knowledge of sectors like IT is really impressive and she has achieved outstanding results there."
"I would say she is a real standout; she is just brilliant."
Camilla Sanger defends clients in high-profile cartel follow-on damages cases, including representing them in class action proceedings. She also has experience acting for claimants.
"Camilla Sanger is very client friendly, very knowledgeable and thorough."
"She is a very hard-working, charming and highly skilled competition lawyer."
"She is an incredibly down to earth people person. It is fun being on the team with her and she is great at managing the client."
"She is always good fun."
Isabel Taylor has notable experience assisting high-profile technology sector clients with CMA investigations into allegations of anti-competitive behaviour. In addition she has notable experience in merger control and state aid matters, representing public sector clients in subsidy control mandates.
"Isabel Taylor is always helpful, responsive and accurate. She is a great asset to the team."
"She provides very comprehensive competition law advice that is strategic and recognises the overall commercial objectives."
"Isabel Taylor is a state aid specialist."
"She is an extremely good solicitor."
Elizabeth Jordan assists both claimants and defendants with competition litigation cases, including acting on collective actions and damages claims following cartel decisions.
"Elizabeth Jordan has been working very hard and is fantastic. She is very pragmatic and thoughtful."
"She has a fabulous degree of experience in competition litigation and is a great person to have on your team."
Lisa Wright advises clients on merger clearance and foreign direct investment filings, as well as CMA market reviews and investigations into alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
"Lisa Wright's standout quality is that she has been incredibly supportive and available. She is also very calm and rational in how she approaches things."
"Lisa Wright is one of those rare lawyers who has deep subject matter expertise and experience but still manages to dispense advice that is client-focused and practical."
"She has a terrific ability to look around corners and anticipate problems before they materialise."
"Lisa Wright is fantastic and very impressive."
"Lisa Wright is very good at technical and difficult queries."
William Turtle has a particular focus on assisting clients with merger control filings, with further experience advising on NS+I clearances and CMA antitrust investigations.
"William Turtle is very client-friendly and in the details of what we do."
"William Turtle is very knowledgeable about merger control. He is calm, sensible and pragmatic."
"William Turtle has done very good work and is very bright."
"He can connect his knowledge to the realities and make the authorities understand."
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Slaughter and May
London (Firms)
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