England - London • Dispute resolution

Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP

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The ‘dynamic’ practice at Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP exhibits broad expertise across a number of sectors, including automotive, financial services, and technology. Practice head Boris Bronfentrinker utilises his ‘razor-sharp instinct' when defending clients in European Commission investigations, in addition to internal investigations. ’Truly bright spark' Elaine Whiteford primarily focuses on assisting with follow-on damages issues, and challenging regulatory decisions. Nicola Chesaites handles a number of collective actions for both claimants and defendants, having a great deal of experience in litigating before the EU General Court; whilst Michelle Clark has deep knowledge surrounding abuse of dominance claims.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Boris Bronfentrinker is a phenomenon, he is incredibly clever, super sharp, a really knowledgeable competition litigator and fantastic at strategy. He sees and takes points that no one else would be willing to risk.'

  • 'Michelle Clark is hardworking and on top of the detail; she is great at pushing cases forward.'

  • 'Adele Behles is really interested in developing the law and understanding the limits of legal concepts that could be challenged. She's very practical and extremely commercial.’

  • ‘A really dynamic practice, with lots of drive, producing really high-quality substantive work.’

  • ‘Elaine Whiteford is a truly bright spark, with boundless energy and determination to secure the best possible outcomes for her clients.'

  • 'Adele is an undoubted future star, with a keen intelligence, great sense of perspective and excellent client care.'
  • 'Boris has a razor-sharp instinct for how to put together a winning case, and remarkable energy to pursue it.’

Key clients

  • Walter Merricks CBE
  • Mercedes Benz Group AG and Mercedes-Benz AG
  • Payward Inc (Kraken)
  • Cérélia

Work highlights

  • Advising the class representative for over 46m consumers in collective proceedings against Mastercard.
  • Advising Cérélia on its appeal to the CAT against the CMA decision that the merger between Cérélia and Jus-Rol would bring about a substantial lessening of competition, and that Cérélia must sell the Jus-Rol business in the UK and Ireland.
  • Advising Mercedes in relation to its claim for damages arising from the brakes cartel which raises a legal argument as forum non conveniens post-Brexit.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Boris  Bronfentrinker

Boris Bronfentrinker

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Boris Bronfentrinker is a partner in Willkie’s Litigation and Antitrust & Competition practices in London. Boris is a solicitor advocate practicing in complex commercial litigation, with particular experience in competition litigation. He has represented clients, both as claimants and defendants, in leading and high profile cases in both the High Court of England & Wales and the Competition Appeal Tribunal, as well as coordinating competition litigation proceedings in other jurisdictions globally. Regularly acting for both claimants and defendants gives Boris a unique perspective and insight into the conduct of competition disputes from both sides. Boris is experienced in not only litigating cases to judgment but also resolving claims through alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation.

Elaine Whiteford

Elaine Whiteford

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Elaine Whiteford is a partner in Willkie's Litigation and Antitrust & Competition practices in London. She has over 20 years' experience of contentious EU, Competition and Regulatory work, specialising in follow-on damages litigation, challenges to regulatory decisions, cartel investigations and threatened disputes. Elaine also has extensive experience in relation to regulatory investigations conducted by the European Commission and other competition regulators. Her regulatory experience also extends to investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority, Ofwat, the Swiss Competition Commission and the Singapore Competition Authority and her experience includes investigating conduct, evaluating evidence and preparing leniency applications.

Next Generation Partners

Michelle  Clark

Michelle Clark

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Michelle Clark is a partner in Willkie’s Antitrust & Competition and Litigation practices in London. Her areas of practice include competition litigation, UK and EU regulatory investigations and GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018 compliance and litigation. Michelle is recognised in the market as a leading competition lawyer with particular experience in competition litigation. Acting for both claimants and defendants, she regularly coordinates multi-jurisdictional litigation with a particular focus on collective actions, cartel damages and abuse of dominance claims, often involving intellectual property and FRAND issues. Her experience includes litigating in the English High Court, the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. Michelle also advises clients in relation to competition investigations, both infringement proceedings and market sector inquiries, and consequential appeals and judicial reviews following decisions of competition and regulatory authorities. Michelle's vast experience spans multiple industries, with a particular focus on the financial services, automotive, retail, sports, media, pharmaceutical and technology sectors. Michelle also provides strategic and general competition counselling advice.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Boris Bronfentrinker

Other key lawyers

Elaine Whiteford, Nicola Chesaites, Michelle Clark, Adele Behles