Clifford Chance

A 24-hour dawn raid hotline and a network of experienced antitrust lawyers at our client's fingertips.

A surprise dawn raid is one of the most intrusive and disruptive experiences that a company can face. Often it involves the search and seizure of thousands of electronic and paper documents. Yet, companies must act swiftly and assess the available evidence and their strategic options, as time is of the essence.

We offer a 24-hour legal service across the globe to clients facing such investigations. No matter where, no matter when, we provide an immediate and structured dawn raid response saving our clients time and money.

We gather evidence and documents, interview employees and prepare detailed risk assessments, so that our clients have the best possible information advantage when deciding whether to apply for immunity or leniency, and the best possible chance of being "first in" to the enforcement agency with any such application.

We also work with clients to ensure that they are fully prepared for a dawn raid, by conducting "mock" dawn raids on notice at clients' premises and providing comprehensive and tailored guidelines to ensure all staff understand their respective roles, rights and obligations during a dawn raid.

A highly experienced international team at navigating throughout all key stages of antitrust investigations, including Article 101 and 102 investigations, and major market/sector inquiries.

We have firsthand experience of the different strategies (and their merits) employed by companies in the context of market investigations.

Antitrust authorities often carry out investigations into a particular sector, which can be burdensome, time consuming and can have a considerable impact on companies and their share price.

We advise clients on major sector enquiries and market studies/investigations by antitrust and other regulatory authorities and have significant experience in many jurisdictions and sectors including technology, financial services and pharmaceuticals.

We advise our clients throughout all key stages of the process, including: assisting in the evidence gathering process; analysing evidence, including company data / internal documents; responding to information requests; preparing for meetings with the authorities; and communicating with interested third parties (i.e. consumer groups). We also have experience in preparing witnesses for Select Committee and Parliamentary Hearings.

A wealth of expertise in helping clients overcome major merger clearance hurdles and foreign investment control obstacles.

With the ever changing regulatory landscape and numerous deals hitting the headlines for running into objections from antitrust authorities in recent months, navigating merger control regimes is critical for success on a transaction.

We deliver a global service in relation to merger clearances and have helped clients overcome major merger clearance hurdles in Europe, Asia Pacific and the US. We have longstanding experience of handling Phase 1 and 2 investigations and regularly act as global antitrust counsel to co-ordinate multi-jurisdictional merger filings on mergers that require filings in a large number of jurisdictions.

Our lawyers continually strive to preserve each deal in its intended form and with universal remedies. We apply novel commitments and seek innovative solutions to protect our clients' strategic interests. Our strong relationships with antitrust authorities enable us to find satisfactory solutions for our clients when divestitures and undertakings are required.

A multi-jurisdictional team to help navigate the emerging regulatory landscape in foreign investment screening regimes.  

In recent years, there has been a global trend towards protectionism and raising of barriers to foreign investments. A number of countries have introduced new or stricter foreign investment regimes, including the EU Screening Regulation, new review procedures in China and the expanding powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.

We work with clients to identify where foreign investment filings are triggered, to prepare filings and engage with authorities, and to establish standard protocols in-house to streamline the gathering of regulatory information.

A wealth of experience in advising on EU State aid matters, including a number of the current European Commission investigations.

We have experience across all major sectors and advise clients from the public and private sectors including the providers and beneficiaries of state funding, financial guarantees and also third parties who challenge the recipients of State aid.  We represent clients before the European Commission and national courts in relation to the defence of and possible recovery of State aid and also on state aid issues in relation to investments and divestments.

The global financial crisis resulted in a sharp expansion of government subsidies in the EU. We have advised numerous banks across the continent in relation to the subsequent rescue and restructuring aid granted by government entities. 

Our extensive experience of advising clients on legally complex and often political State aid cases allows us to help clients on their most challenging cases.

An experienced team advising on all aspects of European and national public procurement law.

In addition to advising clients on the application of public procurement laws, we also have considerable experience of representing clients in disputes over the awarding of public contracts before the relevant courts and with the European Commission and other national agencies, including the seeking of injunctive relief. We also advise on the procurement structuring of transactions.

A worldwide team of antitrust litigation lawyers who deal with a variety of complex and high profile antitrust litigation cases.

We have an outstanding antitrust litigation practice which advises on antitrust investigations and represents both claimant and defendant companies in high profile cases before national and European courts. We are experienced in managing multi-jurisdictional investigations and litigation. The team includes experts on collective/class actions, fraud, white collar crime and cross-border regulatory investigations and represents clients across a wide range of industries. We have acted on many of the leading cartel investigations and cartel damages claims in the UK and across Europe.