Our EU, competition and trade department is consistently rated as one of the leading practices in its field, with a team of lawyers based in London, Paris and Brussels.
We provide international corporate and contentious advice on matters including:
• behavioural investigations
• competition litigation
• merger clearance
• regulatory matters
• WTO and trade
Amongst our clients are leading financial institutions, top Fortune and FTSE companies from all industry sectors, regulatory bodies and national governments.
Recent Matters
• BAA in its appeal in the Competition Appeal Tribunal against the Competition Commission's (CC) report on its market investigation into UK airports markets, and subsequent appeal by the CC to the Court of Appeal. BAA is appealing in the Supreme Court the Court of Appeal's decision to uphold aspects of the CC's appeal.
• JJB on various issues relating to its leniency application to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in relation to a suspected agreement or concerted practice to dampen competition in the sports retail market
• Arriva plc on EU/UK competition aspects of the £1.585 billion public offer by Deutsche Bahn (Germany's incumbent rail transport operator), including the merger notification to the European Commission which resulted in conditional clearance
• Électricité de France (EdF) on complex competition and regulatory aspects of its recommended £12.5 billion takeover of British Energy Group, the biggest ever inward investment into the UK.
Qualifications required
• We are willing to consider candidates at all levels other than those with less than one years post qualification experience, but with a preference for those with 1-4 PQE.
• Academic excellence is essential for all positions within Herbert Smith. We would always expect a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) and solicitors' examinations passed first time. All applications should include full academic details including grades, subjects and transcripts where appropriate.
• Significant hands-on transactional experience is essential. Candidates will need to be bright self-starters looking for a challenge.
• All candidates will be expected to display excellent interpersonal skills and be able to communicate with individuals at all levels.
