North West lawyers asked to help raise competition law rules awareness

March 17, 2016

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today announced that it is drafting in the support of law firms in the Northwest of England to improve familiarity with competition law rules particularly among their SME clients.

Commenting on the CMA’s ongoing drive to boost awareness of, and compliance with, competition law, David Went, competition and EU law specialist at Exchange Chambers said:

“With competition law awareness apparently low among businesses in this region, this will likely give rise to a good deal of follow-on counselling as to the permissible bounds of various commercial practices, as well as to questions about how SMEs might be able to use competition rules to their advantage in potentially challenging the conduct of their trading partners.  Coincidentally, the first two applications to use the new fast track appeal procedure before the Competition Appeal Tribunal – introduced on 1 October 2015 and aimed at SMEs – have been made by two law firms in the Northwest.  This outreach by the CMA may lead to more such applications.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-west-lawyers-asked-to-help-competition-law-awareness