Emma Walsh

Associate

Emma Walsh focuses her practice on EU and UK competition law and antitrust. In particular, Emma represents clients on a variety of behavioural antitrust investigations and competition disputes before the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), the European Commission, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Emma has been recognised as a ‘Recommended’ lawyer in Dispute Resolution: Competition Litigation by The Legal 500 UK (2021).

Extended Profile

Emma represents clients in civil proceedings for damages for breach of competition laws, cartel and alleged abuse of dominance investigations, merger control proceedings, and regulatory and compliance matters. Emma works on behalf of a variety of distinguished clients from a wide range of industries including healthcare, life sciences, and retail.

Emma represented Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. in its claim against Visa for an alleged violation of competition law arising out of Visa’s UK multilateral interchange fees. The client prevailed in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Emma is representing McDonald’s and Rail Delivery Group, comprising 21 train operators, on similar claims.

Emma acted on the leading case challenging CMA search warrants in on-going investigations (Concordia v. CMA). This case was awarded Behavioural Matter of the Year—Europe by Global Competition Review (2018).

Emma has a Postgraduate Diploma in EU Competition Law from King’s College London.

Emma sits on The American Lawyer’s Young Lawyer Editorial Board.

Emma completed her training contract at Morgan Lewis following her legal studies at Warwick University and the University of Hong Kong.

Selected Representations

Acting for Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. in its landmark victory at the Supreme Court against Visa. In June 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal's 2018 judgment in favour of Sainsbury’s claim that Visa’s UK multilateral interchange fee was an unlawful restriction of competition under UK and EU law. Prior to the relevant proceedings there had been no English or European ruling that Visa’s interchange fee was a restriction of competition. (Acted for Sainsbury's at the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.)
Acting for Concordia in connection with challenges to CMA Search Warrants at the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
Acting for Concordia in relation to an ongoing investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority into alleged excessive pricing.
Acting for Concordia in relation to a Statement of Objections by the Competition and Markets Authority in relation to an alleged pay-for-delay arrangement.
Acting for a Fortune 500 company in an ongoing investigation into alleged market-sharing and price-fixing.