Joanna Christoforou focuses on EU and UK antitrust and competition law, including competition law litigation in the European and English courts. Joanna is recognised as a Leading Individual in Competition Litigation and is recommended in EU and Competition Law by The Legal 500 UK. Joanna defends clients in complex, high-value cartel or abuse of dominance investigations and court proceedings, damages actions, competition disputes, dawn raids, director disqualification orders, and merger control and foreign direct investment filings. She also advises on a range of compliance and competition law matters. Joanna represents clients before the European Commission and European courts; the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court; and antitrust authorities in other jurisdictions.
Joanna is recognised as a Leading Individual in Competition Litigation and is recommended in EU and Competition Law in The Legal 500 UK. She is noted for representing “a broad range of clients across the life sciences and technology industries in matters concerning abuse of dominance investigations, and appeals before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court” and for her “expertise in big-ticket cartel and abuse of dominance investigations, and consequent court proceedings.” Clients comment that Joanna and her ”formidable team of experts” are “extremely skilled and responsive, and bring a real depth of experience in this complex and challenging area.” Joanna’s clients also describe her as “highly accomplished and effective” and praise her for her “excellent support” and for showing “a real sense of being on your side, even when conveying tough messages.” Clients also note that in merger control matters, she and her team are “always on hand during a transaction to offer top class insights which allow for clear and fully informed decision making.”
Joanna has had leading roles in significant competition litigation matters in the CAT and the UK High Court, Court of Appeal, and 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 Supreme Court), and representing Concordia in its challenge to the CMA’s search warrants in a first-of-its-kind litigation. She has represented clients in a number of cartel and abuse of dominance investigations by the CMA and the European Commission and in appeals of infringement decisions, including more recently the appeals against the CMA’s decisions in each of Hydrocortisone, Liothyronine, and Prochlorperazine. Joanna works across a broad range of industries, including life sciences, technology, retail, grocery, ecommerce, financial services, commodities, and healthcare.
Joanna is a member of the Morgan Lewis team that was awarded 2018 Behavioural Matter of the Year—Europe, Challenges to CMA Search Warrants by Global Competition Review. She was previously seconded to the Competition and Cooperation Panel (then Monitor), where she advised on the introduction of a competition law regime to the UK National Health Service (NHS).
Joanna maintains an active pro bono practice, including leading Morgan Lewis’s initiatives in assisting Amicus, a not-for-profit organization helping provide representation to individuals facing the death penalty in the United States. She is also a member of the London office’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) working group.
Pro Bono
Leading Individual, Dispute Resolution: Competition Litigation, The Legal 500 UK (2024)
Recommended, Corporate and Commercial: EU and Competition, The Legal 500 UK (2016–2024)
Recommended, Dispute Resolution: Competition Litigation, The Legal 500 UK (2020–2024)
Member, Behavioural Matter of the Year—Europe, Challenges to CMA Search Warrants, Global Competition Review (2018)
Highly Commended, Competition Team of the Year, The Lawyer Awards (2021, 2022)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Competition, Law360 (2017–2021)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Antitrust Law, US News & World Report/Best Lawyers (2017)
Member, Competition/Regulatory Team of the Year, The Lawyer (2012), and Competition Team of the Year, Legal Business (2012), for advising a global tobacco manufacturer in its 2011 appeal to the CAT
Awarded a stage to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition (2000) by the Law Society’s European Group (now Competition Section)
Member, Competition Law Association
Member, Law Society Competition Section