Competition Law is a real strength of Tyr. We are one of the few law firms outside of London with genuine expertise in this specialist area.
Investigations and regulatory advice
The investigations team is led by regulatory partner Lyn Dario who has experience in acting for companies in Competition Act investigations by the CMA; and in dealing with the EU Commission. Given that the CMA can fine up to 30% of an undertaking’s turnover for the most serious competition breaches such as involvement in cartels, it is critical that businesses understand what the law permits them to do. Investigations themselves are time-consuming and expensive, with information requests from the CMA often requiring a very quick response. Access to lawyers who understand how the competition regime works in practice is fundamental to the outcome of a case.
We can also advise companies on putting together a competition compliance programme and on how to structure supply chain arrangements so as to remain compliant.
Lyn’s experience includes:
- Acting for suppliers of products to online and bricks and mortar retailers, in connection with investigations by the CMA
- Assisting retailers with enforcement action for breach of distribution agreements
- Drafting competition compliance manuals and providing training to employees tailored to their role within a business
Competition Litigation
Private enforcement of competition law is a growing area. It is an increasingly recognised tool used by businesses to ensure dominant players in their market operate fairly and also provides opportunity for victims of cartelised behaviour such as price fixing to recover losses.
Founding partner, Matthew Fidler, has worked on some of the UK’s largest cartel damages actions as well having experience of bringing private enforcement actions for abuse of dominant position. Matthew has experience of bringing private damages actions both in the High Court and the Competition Appeal Tribunal. His experience includes:
- Acting for a group of twelve UK retailers on cartel damages claims against MasterCard and Visa worth in excess of £1bn. The MasterCard case was in the Lawyer’s top 20 cases of 2014 and 2016. – Asda Stores Limited v MasterCard Inc [2017] EHWC 993 (Comm)
- Acting on Iiyama (UK) v Samsung Electronics Co [2018] EWCA Civ 220, a multi-million pound follow on damages action based on the European Commission Decision on Liquid Crystal Displays for televisions and concerned the territorial application of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
- Advising an international shipping company in relation to an abuse of dominant position claim against a port operator
- Advising a national professional training provider in relation to an abuse of dominant position claim against a chartered membership body
