Competition and Antitrust
VAST expanses of arid competition law are a daunting prospect for wary management - one reason why Bond Pearce's experts pride themselves as expert guides and interpreters in the often difficult terrain of competition law.
The team led by Nick Page has detailed knowledge of all features of competition and anti-trust laws, including European Commission (EC) articles, UK legislation and vestigial common law.
But Bond Pearce's increasing success is also founded on the ability to translate legal knowledge promptly into concise and coherent business intelligence.
"You can go to some lawyers with a question about competition law," Nick says. "After a wait, you'll end up with a treatise on the law and still have to spend time extracting the answer.
"We'll give a quick response, and always provide commercial guidance in language the clients understand. And we're unafraid to say what action should be taken"
That means Bond Pearce competition law experts have a fluent understanding of the economic factors affecting clients' markets - what Nick calls commercial nous.
"You may have to analyse complex facts, but that does not mean you have to give massively complex advice," Nick says. "Instead, we help the client balance the risks using the detailed information we've been given or obtained.
"It's a clear response and understandable advice that enables management teams to reach informed decisions."
Take the example of one Bond Pearce client, a UK-based retailer with stores across Europe and Asia. It was negotiating a significant purchasing agreement which the supplier claimed would infringe competition law.
The company turned to their Bond Pearce advisers, who assessed whether there was a risk.
"We were able to assess whether there was a risk, the level and nature of that risk and whether our client might be held to have abused its dominant position," Nick says.
"We advised that they were acting lawfully - and our client was able to complete negotiations while achieving its commercial objectives in a tight time frame.
"Other lawyers may have spent a week or more on that case, but we had a few hours. That example shows the virtue of ongoing consultancy with our team," Nick says. "It enables us to understand all aspects of the client's business."
Those consultations take place on all the implications of competition and anti-trust regulations, from competition compliance to mergers.
That client may be a company considering inward investment into the UK.
The consultation could provide a defensive strategy for a company under attack by regulators and government agencies.
And consultation can equally mean Bond Pearce urging clients to use the law to their advantage in negotiations or challenges.
That happened when a small tourism operator found its prospects blighted by the actions of a quango using State funds to run a service inimical to the holiday company's interests. Bond Pearce took the case to the EC.
"You can use competition law as a bargaining device to secure a better deal," Nick says.
"We understand the subject thoroughly and we can deal with anything.
"But the law can be the tail that wags the dog. We don't let that happen."
