Feature

Global Antitrust Team Gains Additional EU Competition Firepower

Monday, March 14, 2016

Morgan Lewis clients are increasingly litigating in Europe for breaches of EU competition law across a variety of products and services. The businesses we serve operate in an environment marked by continued scrutiny from the European Commission—which has been active in its pursuit of investigations into alleged cartels and potentially anti-competitive mergers—and from national competition authorities in individual EU countries.

To stay ahead of our clients’ evolving needs, Morgan Lewis continues to deepen its capabilities. Most recently, our leading global antitrust team welcomed London partner Omar Shah, whose specialty includes defending clients in complex global cartel and anti-corruption investigations. Omar, a Chambers-ranked partner, handles civil claims for alleged breaches of competition law and represents clients in commercial and regulatory proceedings. He represents global corporations in major international cartel investigations in the airline, steel, automotive, and maritime sectors. He has also worked extensively on complex global mergers. Omar’s representative matters include:

  • Advising Singapore Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo in civil proceedings for damages in the High Court in England arising from a European Commission decision imposing nearly €800 million ($872 million) on air cargo carriers for a global price fixing cartel on fuel surcharges.
  • Advising Harvard International PLC in an antitrust defense and counterclaim to a patent infringement action brought in the High Court in England by nine members of the MPEG-2 patent pool.
  • Representing Capgemini on worldwide merger control clearance of its $4.62 billion acquisition of iGate Inc.
  • Advising several large corporates with activities worldwide on the structuring and implementation of global compliance policies covering both the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

IN-COUNTRY, CROSS-BORDER EU & GLOBAL REPRESENTATIONS

Omar joins a team of more than 125 Morgan Lewis lawyers with antitrust and competition law experience working from the world’s major business centers in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Our clients rely on us to handle their home country, EU, and global antitrust matters—from the largest cartel investigations to the biggest merger matters to bet-the-company class actions. We provide cross-jurisdictional assistance and teams that include former high-level government officials with insight into enforcement agendas and practices around the world. Read more about Morgan Lewis’s Antitrust & Competition services.

Q&A WITH OMAR

Omar took a moment to talk to us about moving his practice to Morgan Lewis and how clients benefit from our combined efforts.

What attracted you to Morgan Lewis?

Morgan Lewis has the right blend of dedication to client service, clear leadership, and a strong, highly integrated international platform. 

Tell us about some of your biggest cases and wins.

I have been fortunate enough to work on a variety of complex, high-stakes cases during my career. For example, helping a UK market leader acquire the No. 2 player with a combined market share of more than 70%, obtaining the strike out of 64,000 claims in the English High Court for several hundreds of millions of pounds, and saving a global manufacturing client several hundred million Euros in fines while keeping its executives out of jail by obtaining immunity, even where it was not the first to uncover an international cartel infringement. The common thread through these wins is dedication to client service, clear leadership, and a strong, highly integrated, international platform. That is why clients have been very positive about my move and I am confident Morgan Lewis is the right firm for my practice.

What will you focus on at Morgan Lewis?

I am looking forward to working with the extremely talented and experienced lawyers at Morgan Lewis to build on the existing strong growth momentum in the firm and its leading antitrust practice in the United States, and to help grow the antitrust practice in Europe, particularly in cartel defense, competition litigation, and merger control.

ACCOLADES

Morgan Lewis’s antitrust lawyers are highly regarded for their work, gaining recognition from independent legal industry observers. In 2015 we earned the following accolades:

  • Law Firm of the Year, Antitrust, US News & World Report/Best Lawyers (2015)
  • Practice Group of the Year, Class Action, Law360 (2013, 2014, 2015)
  • Top Firm, Antitrust, Chambers USA (2015)