The Competition Lawyers – what we do!
First published by Author on July 15, 2016 in the following categories: Latest
Competition law is a specialist and technical area of law.
We help people claim damages against organisations who have broken the law on fair competition. In today’s society we are governed by important legislation that is designed to allow fair competition to take place in the markets so consumers can benefit as well as businesses.
But when businesses put profits before their customers… That’s when we get involved.
The key legislation is the Competition Act 1998. In a nutshell, businesses must not collude – directly or indirectly – to affect the price of goods sold.
Commonly this is achieved through:
- Price fixing – usually, intentionally by setting prices higher
- Output restriction – reducing output to drive prices up; abusing the rule of supply and demand
- Information sharing – which in turn can lead to indirect price fixing or output restrictions across the market
- Abuse of market dominance and monopolies
Any of these practices, whether achieved through direct interaction and collusion between businesses, or indirectly – through information sharing and observing the competition – can lead to significant repercussions. Businesses can be fined up to 10% of their annual turnover for up-to three years of trading as punishment for breaking the rules.
How we help
When organisations are found to be in breach of competition law, we can step in.
Consumers – both as individuals and businesses – can be entitled to claim damages for having to pay higher prices. You can claim this money back at the very least as a victim of competition law breaches. Normally breaking the rules on competition leads to higher prices and higher profits for the perpetrators.
Our legal team
We’re a law firm who has long been at the front of cutting-edge areas of practice, and we have been involved in some of the biggest consumer actions in the UK for years. Right now we are investigating new breaches that are yet to hit the press, and if you have been affected by a breach of the rules, as an individual or as a business, we may be able to help you.