Fieldfisher Strengthens Competition Practice with Notable Hires

Fieldfisher Strengthens Competition Practice with Notable Hires

Fieldfisher, a prominent European law firm, recently revealed the addition of a robust competition litigation team comprising eight members. The team will be joining Fieldfisher's Competition and Regulatory Group in London.

The firm welcomed two partners, three lawyers, and three support staff, augmenting Fieldfisher's award-winning accomplished Competition team with additional specialist expertise.

The newly-formed team consists of Partners Richard Pike and Stephen Critchley, alongside Director Simon Yeung, two associates, a paralegal, and two executive assistants.

Richard Pike, who spent 14 years at Baker McKenzie before joining Constantine Cannon nine years ago, is a well-recognised figure in legal directories as a leading individual. His extensive practice encompasses a diverse array of competition and regulatory litigation and counselling.

Pike specialises in competition litigation, with a particular focus on representing claimants in competition damages actions and regulatory appeals. Notably, he has been involved in significant cases, such as representing Euronet in its claim against Visa and Mastercard, as well as representing over 130 public authorities seeking damages in relation to the trucks cartel.

With more than 20 years of experience, Stephen Critchley is highly skilled in resolving high-value commercial disputes, with a specific emphasis on antitrust damages actions. Notably, he played a pivotal role as counsel for the claimant in the landmark case of Crehan v Inntrepreneur Pub Company, a pioneering case in the UK back in 2003. His recent work also involves representing a group of commercial entities, including Mitchell & Butler, Birds Eye, and Pilgrim's Pride, in their pursuit of losses resulting from the trucks cartel.

The Constantine Cannon team officially joined Fieldfisher on July 31 and will primarily operate from the firm's London office. They will collaborate closely with Fieldfisher's existing Competition and Disputes teams throughout the firm's European network.

The addition of the Constantine Cannon team is the latest development in Fieldfisher's ongoing expansion efforts. Just last month, the firm established its 26th European office in Vienna, Austria, as part of its comprehensive European growth strategy. Fieldfisher continues to strengthen its multi-jurisdictional capacity and expertise across various sectors and practice areas in Europe.

Fieldfisher's recruitment of the new team demonstrates an enterprising move, poised to strengthen and enrich the current competition offering and cross-practice collaboration within the Competition and Regulatory Group.

Co-Head of Fieldfisher's Competition and Regulatory Group, John Cassels said: "Hiring an entire team is an exciting move for us and is reflective of our desire to invest in our team and ensure we are constantly developing and improving our offering. These hires will add a further dimension to the current practice. We are a very ambitious group and are confident that this new team will create a combined force, which is truly market-leading. As always, our focus will remain on delivering outstanding client service that is qualitatively different from the service provided by other firms active in this space."

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to build on our collective offerings. I was particularly attracted to the firm because of its cross-practice and jurisdictional reputation and I am really keen to get stuck in and work with Fieldfisher's European network to develop competition litigation in other jurisdictions as well as offering English competition litigation to overseas clients," Richard Pike stated.

Stephen Critchley said: "Fieldfisher's team already has an impressive range of legal specialties, and I look forward to being part of this and broadening the current scope of work. The firm is known for its collaborative culture as well as its commercial prowess and its position in the legal market is constantly growing, so I feel it's a really exciting time to join and hopefully play a part in the firm's continued growth."