Stephen Smith > Bristows LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Bristows LLP Offices
100 VICTORIA EMBANKMENT
LONDON
EC4Y 0DH
England
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Stephen Smith
Work Department
Competition
Position
Stephen has 20 years’ experience advising across a broad range of EU and UK competition law matters.
Stephen’s practice includes distribution agreements, merger control, cartels and anti-trust investigations, abuse of dominance and competition litigation.
Stephen has represented clients before the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK and on appeals both to the European courts in Luxembourg and to the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal. He advised the Société Co-opérative de Production (SCOP), the company operating Eurotunnel’s MyFerryLink business, in its landmark appeal.
The case was the first ever jurisdictional challenge under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act to reach the Supreme Court in the UK. Stephen also advised the owners of the Evening Standard and the Independent in the Competition Appeals Tribunal on their successful jurisdictional challenge against the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Support’s attempt to intervene in the sale of a minority stake to overseas investors.
More recently, Stephen has been advising Dutch listed home furnishings group Hunter Douglas in respect of the CMA’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 reviews of the completed acquisition of 247 Home Furnishings.
Stephen is recognised by his clients as adept at providing pragmatic, commercial advice and his experience spans diverse sectors including life sciences, financial services, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications and technology. He has also has experience of working inside a regulator, having worked at OFCOM, the UK’s communication regulator, earlier in his career.
Stephen is fluent in French and is a former Chair of the Law Society’s Competition Section, where he remains a member of the Committee.
Career
Advocaat bij de Balie te Brussel
Admitted in Republic of Ireland (non-practising)
Qualified 2001
Partner 2011
Languages
French, German
Memberships
Committee Member of the Law Society’s Competition Section (past Chair)
Education
Aylesbury Grammar School
University of Cambridge, MA (Hons) Modern and Medieval languages 1997
Guildford College of Law 1999
Lawyer Rankings
London > Dispute resolution > Competition litigation
The ‘excellent‘ team at Bristows LLP specialises in the intersection between competition and IP matters, particularly in relation to the use of data, investigations, and FRAND licensing issues. Practice head Sophie Lawrance is an ‘expert’ who maintains a pharmaceutical and tech-focused practice, often handling appeals in the Supreme Court; whilst the ‘very knowledgeable and practical’ Stephen Smith has broad knowledge spanning the full-range of both contentious and non contentious matters, including jurisdictional challenges and interventions in judicial reviews.
London > Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
(Leading partners)The ‘outstanding’ competition group at Bristows LLP has been recognised as among ‘the best for innovation and IP related competition matters’ in the market. The practice has a proven track record in representing clients within the technology and life sciences sectors. Team lead Sophie Lawrance is a key port of call for clients in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors, providing specialist guidance on various competition law issues, including licensing standard essential patents. Stephen Smith has 20 years’ experience advising across a broad range go EU and UK competition law matters across the life sciences, financial services, retail, telecommunications and technology sectors.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading partners London > Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Competition litigation London > Dispute resolution
- EU and competition London > Corporate and commercial
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Risk advisory > Data protection, privacy and cybersecurity
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: patents (contentious and non-contentious)
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- Industry focus > Life sciences and healthcare
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media: Digital content & social
- Industry focus > TMT
Firm Rankings
- Corporate and commercial > Commercial contracts
- Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media: Advertising & marketing
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media: Film & TV
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > PATMA: Trade mark attorneys
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Reputation management
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Fintech
- Dispute resolution > Competition litigation
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax
- Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
- Employment > Employers