HomePress ReleasesWiggin Launches Competition/Antitrust Practice with Shearman Hire

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LONDON/BRUSSELS — Media, technology and brands law firm Wiggin LLP announced today that Collette Rawnsley will join as senior counsel in the firm’s London and Brussels offices. Joining from Shearman & Sterling LLP, she will head up Wiggin’s new competition/antitrust practice.

Rawnsley, an experienced barrister, advises clients on a wide array of contentious and non-contentious EU and UK competition law issues as well as questions of general EU law and procedure. Her work focuses primarily on abuse of dominance cases, cartels, competition litigation, and merger control, with some state aid work. She also advises on dawn raid procedures, and conducts internal antitrust audits and self-assessments. She has played a major role in some of the defining cases concerning the intersection of intellectual property rights and competition law. She has significant experience in assisting high-profile clients to navigate antitrust and regulatory investigations and related litigation before the domestic and EU courts.

Prior to entering private practice, Rawnsley was the Senior Reféréndaire at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), where she gained experience of the UK competition law regime and sectoral regulation.

Rawnsley is a recognised expert in competition law and was recently named in Global Competition Review’s top Women in Antitrust.

Ted Shapiro, head of Wiggin’s Brussels office said: “We are delighted that Collette’s expertise will allow us to respond to our clients’ IP and competition needs, which increasingly overlap. The European Commission’s E-Commerce Sector inquiry and the ongoing Pay-TV case are evidence of this growing trend. As a niche firm, this investment will benefit all our key sectors: media, technology and brands.”

Collette Rawnsley said: “I am excited to be joining such a strong specialist firm and developing the competition practice in London and Brussels, at a time when authorities across the globe are focussing on the interaction between competition law and technological innovation.”

Wiggin’s strategy for growth in its key markets has been evidenced by a number of lateral partner hires in 2016/7: Chris Hanson (Film & TV), Alan Owens (Litigation), Stephen Ketteley and David McLeish (Betting & Gaming), and David Naylor (Technology).