Stephen Smith
Europe Guide 2024
Band 3 : Competition Law
Email address
[email protected]Contact number
020 7400 8206Share profile
Band 3
About
Provided by Stephen Smith
Practice Areas
Stephen has 20 years’ experience advising across a range of EU and UK competition law matters. Stephen’s practice includes distribution agreements, merger control, cartels and anti-trust investigations, abuse of dominance and competition litigation.
Stephen has represented clients before the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK and on appeals both to the European courts in Luxembourg and to the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal. He advised the Société Co-opérative de Production (SCOP), the company operating Eurotunnel’s MyFerryLink business, in its landmark appeal. The case was the first ever jurisdictional challenge under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act to reach the Supreme Court in the UK.
More recently, Stephen has been advising Dutch listed home furnishings group Hunter Douglas in respect of the CMA’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 reviews of the completed acquisition of 247 Home Furnishings.
He has also has experience of working inside a regulator, having worked at OFCOM, the UK’s communication regulator, earlier in his career.
Career
MA Modern and Medieval languages, University of Cambridge
Advocaat bij de Balie te Brussel
Admitted in Republic of Ireland (non-practising)
Qualified 2001
Partner 2011
Chambers Review
Europe
Stephen Smith has a broad competition law practice encompassing state aid issues, appeals against authority decisions and merger control filings. He also has experience in matters involving the National Security and Investment Act and in abuse of dominance complaints.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"He's fantastically commercial and has a real grasp of the appetite for customers to get into the level of detail they need."
"He inspires full confidence in the matters we bring to him."
"He is an excellent and pragmatic lawyer. He has delivered strategic vision throughout the whole project."
"He's fantastically commercial and has a real grasp of the appetite for customers to get into the level of detail they need."
"He inspires full confidence in the matters we bring to him."
"He is an excellent and pragmatic lawyer. He has delivered strategic vision throughout the whole project."
Articles, highlights and press releases
1 item provided by Bristows LLP
Bristows appoints Stephen Smith as new Joint Managing Partner
The competition law expert joins life sciences patent litigator, Liz Cohen in leading the firm
Bristows appoints Stephen Smith as new Joint Managing Partner
The competition law expert joins life sciences patent litigator, Liz Cohen in leading the firm