UK Guide 2026 : London (Firms)
Ranked Individuals
Provided by Bristows LLP
We are experts in both national and EU competition law, with a long track record of representing clients before the competition authorities and courts in Brussels, Luxembourg and the UK.
We provide support to clients across the board, from devising bespoke compliance systems that are appropriate to each client, to advising on the competition law risks arising from commercial strategies or agreements.
Our deep sector knowledge of the life sciences and technology spaces gives us an edge, and we apply this experience and expertise to help clients prepare for the markets and legal challenges of the future.
Our clients instruct us to advise them on the competition risks arising out of issues as diverse as supply and distribution agreements, complex joint venture or other horizontal cooperation arrangements, in-licences and out licences of technology, abuse of dominance and antitrust investigations.
We also assist our clients when they face individual investigations, often commenced by unannounced inspections or dawn raids.
Our competition litigation team is truly unusual, being made up of lawyers who have both an in-depth knowledge of competition law and extensive experience of litigation. For example, a group of specialists within the Patent Litigation group works seamlessly with the Competition Law group to provide assistance in SEP/FRAND disputes. Our clients (patentees, implementers or patent pools) trust the team to really ‘get’ the issues in this field.
Provided by Chambers
Bristows is a popular choice with clients from the technology and pharmaceutical sectors for advice on the full range of competition law matters. The law firm has experience in merger clearance and NSIA filings, as well as in behavioural complaints, appeals against authority decisions and damages actions. The law firm is known for its ability to handle matters that overlap between intellectual property and competition law.
Provided by Chambers
Bristows represented Panasonic in FRAND litigation against Chinese smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi and OPPO, seeking to secure a license for the client's 3G and 4G SEP portfolio.
Provided by Chambers
Bristows has a team of highly capable individuals who understand the specifics of our business.
All of the team provides high-quality advice rooted in deep expertise, which is then easily applied in the real world of commercial life.
Bristows combines incredible technical knowledge with a comprehensive awareness of the jurisprudence in both the UK and other jurisdictions.
Bristows demonstrated its strong appreciation of our commercial objectives and a determination to find solutions that would work for us commercially and also satisfy regulatory requirements.
Bristows provides pragmatic, hands-on advice. and is also really solution-driven with a strong business acumen.
Provided by Chambers
Sophie Lawrance defends high-profile clients against allegations of abuse of dominance. She also has experience acting for interested third parties on appeals against authority decisions. She has a number of clients from the technology and pharmaceutical sectors.
Sophie Lawrance has a strong business acumen and her pragmatic approach has been hands on in our fruitful collaboration.
Sophie Lawrance is very bright and a good strategic thinker. She is focused on the key drivers of analyses for her clients.
She is superbly clever with a masterful knowledge of the law, and is incredibly thoughtful. She picks up on so many points that others would not ever think of.
She is extremely thorough and forensic in her ability to get across the detail of the product and the matters in the case, even across an extensive period of time.
I am very impressed by her broad knowledge. She seems to have great expertise in her area and really gets through to the problem and finds solutions.
Stephen Smith has a broad competition law practice encompassing market investigations and merger control filings. He also has experience in matters involving the National Security and Investment Act and frequently advises clients from the TMT and life sciences sectors on competition law issues.
Stephen Smith has incredible commercial awareness in a variety of sectors and is very pragmatic in his advice.
Stephen Smith has an exceptional understanding of the real-world realities facing his clients and his advice is always presented as a clear solution to the question asked.
We are very impressed by his knowledge of competition and merger law, combined with his strong commercial focus.
Stephen Smith brings serious intellectual rigour to his work and combines this with significant advisory experience across a range of sectors.
He is always responsive and adept at getting to the key issues quickly.
Head of Competition Law
Competition Law: Litigation
Provided by Bristows LLP
James Batsford
Sean-Paul Brankin
Matthew Hunt
Edwin Bond
Francion Brooks
Isobel Thomas
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