Future Thought Leaders Essay Competition

Nicole Kar is global co-chair of the Antitrust Practice. She advises on global merger investigations from an antitrust and foreign investment standpoint and has led over 40 significant merger reviews before the UK and European authorities; as well as advising on cartel, abuse of dominance and consumer law investigations and consequential litigation, particularly in the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal; compliance issues; and self-reporting to financial and other regulators.

Nicole has significant experience advising private equity houses and financial sponsors on a range of competition law issues, in particular in relation to liability flowing from portfolio companies and investments.

Elaine Whiteford is a partner in Willkie's Litigation and Antitrust & Competition practices in London. She has over 20 years' experience of contentious EU, Competition and Regulatory work, specialising in follow-on damages litigation, challenges to regulatory decisions, cartel investigations and threatened disputes. Elaine also has extensive experience in relation to regulatory investigations conducted by the European Commission and other competition regulators. Her regulatory experience also extends to investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority, Ofwat, the Swiss Competition Commission and the Singapore Competition Authority and her experience includes investigating conduct, evaluating evidence and preparing leniency applications.

Elaine has been involved in many of the most significant competition damages cases in recent years including iiyama (LCD cartel), Emerald Supplies v BA (air cargo cartel), Vodafone v Infineon (smart card chips cartel), Enron v EWS (rail sector), Devenish (vitamins cartel), Provimi (vitamins cartel), Cooper Tyre (synthetic rubber cartel), Courage v Crehan (brewery ties), National Grid v Prysmian (power cables cartel), Stellantis v NTN (bearings cartel) and the Trucks litigation. Her experience covers claims in the High Court and Competition Appeal Tribunal, as well as appeals to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. She has experience in co-ordinating multi-jurisdictional litigation on behalf of claimants and defendants and in advising on proactive litigation strategies as well as options for avoiding litigation. Chambers UK cites Elaine as a leading practitioner in her area of practice in the UK, Europe and Globally. Chambers UK notes that in relation to competition litigation, Elaine "enjoys a superb reputation among market commentators for her skilled handling of complex cases. She is a good strategic litigator; she knows what to do at the right time and makes good judgement calls." Chambers Europe and Chambers Global have highlighted her "understated and effective way of dealing with things, user-friendly approach and impressive drafting style." Elaine is also ranked by Who's Who Legal in Competition.

A native English speaker, Elaine is also fluent in Dutch.

Andrew has significant experience in competition litigation, having acted for both claimants and defendants in disputes arising out of price fixing cartels, in addition to advising on litigation concerning abuse of dominant positions in marketplaces.  Andrew has experience of litigating disputes in various courts in the U.K., including the High Court of Justice, the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal.  He has advised clients in a range of regulated and non-regulated industry sectors, including industrial manufacturers, financial institutions and technology companies.  Andrew also has experience in commercial litigation, including disputes involving complex financial products.

Andrew is a contributing author to BCLP’s Competition Collective.

Andrew is ranked as “Rising Star” in Legal 500 2023 for Competition Litigation, a “Future Leader” in Who’s Who Legal 2023 and is listed in The Best Lawyers™ Ones to Watch 2024 guide.

Stephen has over 20 years' experience and has been involved in a significant number of landmark competition and regulatory cases at EU and UK level. He specialises in all aspects of EU and UK competition law, including merger control, cartels and abuse of dominance cases, market investigations, competition disputes and strategic advice. Stephen advises clients across a broad range of sectors including financial services, media (particularly broadcasting), telecoms, energy, pharmaceuticals and professional services.

As a competition litigator, Stephen has conducted complex competition disputes (both regulatory appeals and private enforcement). He has conducted cases before national competition authorities, in the European courts and the High Court of England and Wales, as well being involved in numerous cases in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) since its inception. Stephen is a qualified solicitor advocate and has appeared as counsel in the CAT and the European Court of Justice. He is also a member of the CAT Users Group.

Stephen also advises clients on the application of economic regulation and on contentious regulatory matters particularly in relation to telecoms and all forms of media. His cases are often complex and invariably involve highly technical expert evidence.

Stephen speaks and publishes extensively on competition law issues, particularly in relation to competition litigation issues, and was closely involved in the consultation on the revised CAT Rules published in September 2015.

Background

Stephen is qualified as a barrister and solicitor in Australia and a solicitor/solicitor advocate in England and Wales. Prior to joining Herbert Smith he conducted competition litigation in Australia, which also involved appearing as counsel.

Stephen is a member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Users group.