Frances Murphy

Frances represents a broad range of clients in complex, high-value global cartel investigations, alleged abuse of dominance matters, and civil proceedings for damages for breach of competition law/antitrust laws. She has experience in defending investigations by the competition authorities, in particular the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Financial Conduct Authority, and the European Commission, and in leading litigation proceedings in the Competition Appeals Tribunal, the UK High Court, Court of Appeal, and UK Supreme Court.

Frances works across a broad range of industries, including aviation, construction, communications, ecommerce, financial services, grocery, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, retail, shipping, and steel.

Frances has acted in a number of the leading cases which have shaped “follow-on” litigation in England. In 2003, she began to act for BASF in the vitamins litigation, a case which gave rise to what remains the leading judgment on jurisdiction in cases involving defendants from multiple jurisdictions (Provimi and Trouw) and the leading judgment on the remedies available to claimants in follow-on claims (Devenish). Frances has also acted in the leading case challenging the use by the CMA of interim injunctions in competition investigations (London Metal Exchange v. CMA) and in the leading case challenging the use by the CMA of search warrants in ongoing investigations (Concordia v. CMA) in all of which the client prevailed. This last case was awarded Behavioural Matter of the Year—Europe by Global Competition Review (2018).

Frances leads significant competition litigation matters in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and the UK High Court, Court of Appeal, and UK Supreme Court, including representing Sainsbury’s in the leading case against Visa in the interchange fee litigation in the English courts (with successful appeals to the Court of Appeal and UK Supreme Court), and for a number of pharmaceutical companies in appeals of infringement decisions, including more recently the appeals against the CMA’s decisions in each of Hydrocortisone, Liothyronine, and Prochlorperazine.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Frances led the antitrust and trade regulation practice of another international law firm.

Frances sits on the firm’s Advisory Board and on the firm’s international leadership team.

• 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 favor 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.) 
• Concordia at the High Court and Court of Appeal in the first-ever challenges to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) search and seize warrants brought under Section 28 of the Competition Act 1998
• AMCo in its successful appeal in the CAT against the CMA’s infringement decision alleging that AMCo was party to a market exclusion agreement in relation to the adrenal insufficiency drug Hydrocortisone; also acting for AMCo in its defense against the CMA’s investigation, statement of objections (SO), and supplementary statement of objections (SSO) regarding the alleged pay-for-delay arrangement
• Concordia in successfully defending a CMA investigation in relation to an alleged pay-for-delay arrangement regarding Fusidic acid eye drops
• Amdipharm in successfully defending a CMA investigation in relation to an alleged abuse of dominance by charging unfair and excessive prices in relation to the drug Carbimazole and alleged market sharing
• Mercury Pharma in its appeal in the CAT against the CMA’s infringement decision alleging abuse of dominance by charging unfair and excessive prices in relation to the thyroid drug Liothyronine; also acting for Mercury Pharma in its defense against the CMA’s investigation, SO, SSO, and further SSO in relation to alleged unfair and excessive pricing
• Focus Pharma in its appeal in the CAT against the CMA’s infringement decision alleging that Focus participated in a market sharing agreement in relation to the anti-nausea drug Prochlorperazine; also acted for Focus Pharma in its defense against the CMA’s investigation and SO in relation to the alleged market exclusion arrangement
• Advanz Pharma in its successful defense against the CMA’s investigation and SO in relation to alleged market sharing in respect of the antibiotic Nitrofurantoin; the CMA closed its investigation on “administrative priority” grounds
• PAE/Amentum in the successful defense of a CMA investigation into suspected bid rigging with Mitie in relation to Home Office contracts for the operation of immigration detention and deportation centers at Heathrow Airport; case closed by the CMA by way of a formal decision finding innocence 
• Numerous individuals in the successful defense of director disqualification proceedings for engagement in alleged anticompetitive conduct
• McDonald’s in its successful claims against Visa and Mastercard for damages arising out of UK and European Economic Area (EEA) multilateral interchange fees imposed by Visa and Mastercard, respectively
• Numerous merchants in the retail, transport, and hospitality industries in relation to their claims for competition damages against Visa and Mastercard arising out of UK and EEA multilateral interchange fees imposed by Visa and Mastercard, respectively
• Apple Inc. in connection with the investigations by the UK Office of Fair Trading and the European Commission of Apple and six publishers related to the pricing of ebooks, and the successful closure of those investigations by way of agreed commitments with the European Commission
• Durkan Holdings Limited, Durkan Limited, and Concentra Limited in its successful appeal to the CAT against findings by the UK Office of Fair Trading (now the CMA) regarding their alleged involvement in the construction cartels in the UK 
• Global Crossing in defense of a claim that it was party to a collective boycott of a service provider for the bringing ashore of deep-sea cables for telecommunications 
• London Metal Exchange in relation to an investigation and injunction imposed on it by the Office of Fair Trading for an alleged abuse of a dominant position for electronic trading in metals 
• AstraZeneca Plc in an appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg of a European Commission Decision concerning groundbreaking findings of abuse of dominance in relation to the misuse of regulatory procedures in Patent Offices in Europe in respect of its drug, Omeprazole 
• Represented a global car manufacturer in connection with claims arising out of the car glass cartel
• Sanofi-aventis S.A. in defense of a claim in the High Court for an alleged abuse of dominance through its refusal to supply pharmacy and homecare services provider Intercare Direct
• Total S.A. in defense of a follow-on claim for damages in the High Court in connection with the so-called candle wax cartel in Europe
• Advised a major global bank on the antitrust aspects of lobbying activities in relation to the regulatory reforms proposed by the European Commission’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) 
• London Metal Exchange Limited on the competition issues relative to its £1.39 billion ($2.16 billion) acquisition by Hong Kong Exchange & Clearing Ltd.
• Goodrich Corporation in its $18.4 billion merger with United Technologies Corp., marking a major milestone for the company and strengthening its position in the commercial aerospace industry
• Lakeshore Lending Limited, a subsidiary of American Greetings Corporation Inc., on the acquisition of a substantial part of the Clinton Cards business and assets from its administrators Zolfo Cooper.
• W.L. Ross as lead investor in the £1 billion ($1.55 billion) acquisition of Northern Rock Plc from the UK government
• W.L. Ross & Co. LLC in the 1.1 billion  ($1.6 billion) minority stake investment in Bank of Ireland. Co-investors included Fairfax Financial Holdings, Capital Research, Fidelity Investment, and Kennedy Wilson
• MPS Group Inc., a professional staffing company, in its $1.3 billion acquisition by Zurich, Switzerland-based Adecco Group, a provider of human resource solutions