Sheppard Mullin’s EU team has created a list of major legal shifts that await General Counsel and Compliance Officers in the areas of competition, EU regulatory and trade in 2017. These challenges may have an impact on your corporate and commercial strategies.
Our predictions include:Continue Reading Top 12 EU Legal Developments to Watch in 2017
The center of gravity when it comes to private litigation of international antitrust disputes is still in the United States, but two trends affecting the legal landscape in the U.S., U.K., and EU are shifting it across the Atlantic. In this article originally published in Competition – The Journal of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the State Bar of California (Vol. 25, No. 2, Fall 2016), we address these trends and further discuss their implications for lawyers handling major antitrust disputes that have global footprints. Much of the discussion will focus on cartel litigation because those cases often involve global issues and present the most obvious examples for our discussion.
Continue Reading The Rapidly Changing Landscape of Private Global Antitrust Litigation: Increasingly Serious Implications for U.S. Practitioners
Invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union requires participation of the UK Parliament say Lord Chief Justices Lord Sales and Lord Thomas of the Royal Courts of Justice in London who handed down their judgment today.
This is a significant step, but only a step along the way. The final outcome remains uncertain as this judgment will most likely be appealed by the Government to the Supreme Court. Hence, the uncertainty caused by Brexit to businesses remains if it is not further increased.Continue Reading Brexit News: UK Judges Throw a Block in the Road of Article 50
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition has issued a lengthy preliminary report of its ongoing sector inquiry into the e-commerce of goods and digital content. The sector-wide inquiry was launched on May 6, 2015, in the context of a wider legislative initiative by the Commission implementing its Digital Single Market strategy. The ongoing inquiry and impending future enforcement actions will have major implications on the law and enforcement of product distribution in Europe, both online and offline.
Continue Reading On the Way to a European Digital Single Market: Whether You Sell Online or Offline – Listen Up!
The UK people have voted to leave the European Union. Although there is no constitutional duty to leave the Union as a result, politically this is likely going to happen. Change will not be immediate and happen over time.
Companies are well advised to react quickly to assess the impact Brexit might have on their business and current commercial decisions involving the UK if they have not already done so.Continue Reading Brexit, Here We Come (or Go)
Winds of change are blowing through Europe’s national courts, beginning with a new antitrust damages Directive requiring changes in national laws to facilitate private enforcement of competition law. This step was a major change, and an equally significant development has taken place in the U.K., which will make it even more attractive to private enforcement. As of 1 October, 2015, the U.K.’s long-anticipated opt-out class action procedure will be available.
Continue Reading Evolving Private Remedies for Competition Infringements in Europe: Class Actions in the U.K.