Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton‘s competition litigators have experience advocating in standalone and follow-on litigation in the CAT, High Court, and Court of Appeal, as well as before EU courts. Paul Stuart is highly regarded for his work on landmark domestic and European cases. James Norris-Jones regularly presides over class actions, and has recently acted in litigation within the financial and digital sectors, while Jonathan Kelly routinely receives instructions concerning follow-on damages claims from individual and corporate clients.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The team at Cleary combine experience in heavy commercial litigation with specialist domestic and EU competition knowledge. They have experience in dealing with the highest profile international clients.' 

  • ‘Paul Stuart is extremely intelligent and hardworking. He gets on top of the details of a case, including the economic issues. He has experience litigating cases in a range of different domestic and international tribunals. He works exceptionally well under pressure and gets the most out of his team. Paul’s recent promotion to partner was extremely well deserved.'

  • ‘The team has an incredible wealth of knowledge about competition law, having been involved in almost every case of note that comes up. The team are versatile and supportive, creative in coming up with arguments, and hardworking and passionate when fighting for their clients.' 

  • ‘Jonathan Kelly is an excellent senior partner with an excellent knack for getting to the key issues. His strategic calls and engagement are top-notch.' 

  • 'Paul Stuart has an encyclopedic knowledge of competition law, along with an aptitude for drafting and advocacy. He has excellent memory for the details of a case - often going back many years - and fights tenaciously for every inch of ground for his client.' 
  • ‘Preeminent firm for EU competition work. Exceptional strength and depth.' 

  • ‘The team has a strong knowledge of competition law and are very much on top of legal developments. They are very commercially astute and highly focused on getting the best outcome for the client. They are effective negotiators and excel at creating, and capitalising on, settlement opportunities to the benefit of their clients.' 

  • ‘Strong team at all levels with a great balance of legal acumen and commerciality with a good grasp of detail.’

Key clients

  • “K” Line
  • Goldman Sachs
  • LG Display
  • Lundbeck
  • Google
  • NVIDIA
  • Telefonica
  • Amazon

Work highlights

  • Acted as defence counsel to Amazon regarding a proposed claim filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in July 2023 by Christine Riefa Class Representative.
  • Represented Goldman Sachs in claims filed in the High Court by 175 financial institutions alleging FX manipulation by eight banks.
  • Acted as defence counsel to “K” Line regarding two parallel claims in the Competition Appeal Tribunal by the VW automotive group.

Lawyers

Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Paul Stuart, Jonathan Kelly, James Norris-Jones