Competition and trade

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

The team at Corrs Chambers Westgarth counts merger control, behavioural investigations, antitrust litigation and cartel investigations among its core strengths. The group is notably able to leverage a distinct level of expertise in big tech and class action matters, and is likewise knowledgeable of healthcare, pharmaceutical, financial services, payments and telecoms-related matters. Mark McCowan enjoys a track record in overseeing cross-border mandates, serving as practice co-head alongside Andrew Korbel, a trade investigation specialist. Richard Flitcroft is also among the key names, boasting over 25 years of representation before the ACCC and other regulators.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘The firm is uniquely placed to project manage large-scale regulatory investigations and legal proceedings. The firm has a dedicated talent pool to readily draw from, including a team of paralegals and legal technology experts, to support large-scale matters. The legal technology team is able to set up secure document transfer to a Corrs' portal to streamline the process of document review and cataloging.'
'The firm's practice consists of a highly skilled team of lawyers, senior associates and partners that take time to intimately understand client concerns and business operations for matters they support. Lawyers have diversity in skills to pivot across multiple aspects of a matter (eg financial data analysis) and are reliable with communication and work output. The firm's practice adopts a collaborative and collegial approach to managing client matters and expectations. Of most help has been the firm's ability to update clients on regulatory and legal developments on a needs basis (non-billable service) and provide a direct line of communication to present to a client's Executive leadership team. ’
‘Richard Flitcroft is a stand-out legal professional. He approaches matters with a strong understanding of the key legal risks at hand and is pragmatic when advising on strategies for clients.
'Richard is personable, readily available, and an absolute pleasure to work with. ’
‘The premier FIRB practice in Australia. They have a wealth of experience practicing before FIRB and approach every situation with a commercial and practical mindset. ’
‘Lizzie Knight is brilliant and adept at briefing private equity and other complex transaction structures to FIRB. She is excellent at calibrating engagement and communications with FIRB to produce exceptional outcomes.'

Key clients

Google
Meta (Facebook)
Fuji Xerox Australia
Avast
Coles
Wesfarmers
TPG Telecom

Work highlights

Appointed to defend Google in a landmark private antitrust litigation commenced by Epic Games, a US$30 billion online gaming giant responsible for Fortnite.
Successfully defended Google LLC in Federal Court proceedings brought by the ACCC alleging that Google breached the Australian Consumer Law by misleading users about the collection and use of data about their web and app activity.
Advised mining giant Rio Tinto on all aspects of a major iron ore joint venture with China Baowu Group in the Pilbara region of Western Australia – a multibillion mining deal.