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Winner, EU and Competition Law Junior of the Year, 2012,  Chambers and Partners Bar Awards

"Absolutely fantastic" Meredith Pickford ... is "very experienced on competition and telecoms issues." Sources particularly note his "ability to advise in a broader commercial context," and his "very strong grasp of economics."" Chambers UK, 2013 (EU / Competition)

"Meredith Pickford is very often the "first choice" for solicitors and their clients looking for a compelling advocate with near-matchless experience in mounting regulatory challenges in the CAT and higher courts. A man who does not need a silk to lead him, he recently acted as sole counsel for Sky and TalkTalk in their intervention against BT in a challenge concerning broadband access charge control." Chambers UK, 2013 (Telecommunications)

Meredith Pickford is a recommended leading junior in EU and Competition Law. Legal 500, 2012

Under Competition/European Law "Meredith Pickford wins admiration from instructing solicitors as an "outstanding junior." He is instructed as junior for Sky in its case over Ofcom's decisions to force Sky to license its premium sports and movie channels to its competitors at Ofcom's set rates." - Chambers UK, 2012

"Scarcely anyone can remember a major telecommunications regulatory challenge in which Meredith Pickford hasn't been involved. He originally trained as an economist, and so his commercial and strategic understanding is highly prized by solicitors and their clients. As someone who can very easily lead a case in the CAT without a QC, "he is a compelling choice for such instructions and an assured advocate who comes up with novel approaches as to how to run a case." " - Chambers UK, 2012

EU & Competition states that Meredith Pickford "has 'excellent knowledge, and is good on his feet, genuinely nice and easy to work with'." Legal 500, 2011

"Meredith Pickford has built himself a reputation for being the go-to junior for telecommunications related competition cases [...] Pickford possess an impressive list of blue-chip clients ... keeping his diary packed with instructions. As a trained economist, Pickford is praised by senior silks for his ability to apply statistical thinking to the cases he fights so fervently for clients." - The Lawyer's Top 100, 2011

The "hardworking and creative" Meredith Pickford attracts "significant plaudits".  He "represented Orange and T-Mobile in their telecoms joint venture Everything Everywhere" - Global Competition Review, Barrister Survey, 2011

Recommended under Competition/European Law in Chambers UK, 2011 "Meredith Pickford's background as an economist ensures "he grasps the salient issues in any case with considerable speed," according to sources. He assisted National Grid in obtaining the reduction of a fine imposed by Ofgem for abuse of dominance."

"Renowned leading junior in Telecommunications Law Meredith Pickford is "a bright, practical and hard-working lawyer with considerable telecoms experience." One example of his full caseload was his representation of T-Mobile in its joint appeal with Vodafone against a CAT ruling that charges for mobile call termination should apply with retrospective effect. He also appeared in Nokia v Ipcom. Pickford is described as "an especially good lawyer on the technical side who is a good team player as he is in no way precious." "  Chambers UK, 2011

Under EU and competition the Legal 500, 2010 states that Meredith Pickford "is a master of 'economic arguments' and has incredible 'tactical awareness'."

In competition law, Chambers UK, 2010 regards Meredith as "bright and hard-working - a definite star of the future." He is a former economist and recently acted for T-Mobile in the Court of Appeal in its successful appeal of a decision by the CAT over the scope of licences granted to mobile network operators."

"On the junior front, the "wonderfully bright and creative" Meredith Pickford has "a huge advantage in understanding the dense arguments of telecoms law due to his background as an economist." An expert in public law, he knows the regulatory regime inside out and commands a huge following that includes long-standing client T-Mobile. He represented the company in the Court of Appeal in a successful appeal against a decision by the CAT in a case concerning the scope of licences granted to mobile operators." - Chambers UK, 2010

Legal 500, 2009 recommends Meredith Pickford as a Leading Junior on EU and competition law. 

On Competition and EU law: "Meredith Pickford not only "has tremendous economic skills," but is also "a smooth character and a good opponent." He regularly appears before the Court of Appeal and the High Court, and is seen as "bright, dedicated and a definite star of the future."" - Chambers UK, 2009

On Telecommunications: "Meredith Pickford impresses with his “tremendous economic skill and experience in legal competition matters.” He advises T-Mobile, Samsung and Cable & Wireless, with telecoms matters, making up a significant proportion of his practice. His recent work includes five major telecoms competition cases in the High Court and two appearances in the Court of Appeal." - Chambers UK, 2009

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MEREDITH PICKFORD

MA (Hons) Economics, Cambridge (First Class), Diploma in Law (City University)
CALL DATE: 1999

SUMMARY

Meredith is a former economist who is consistently ranked in 'band 1' of leading juniors in both Competition / European and Telecommunications law.  He is described in the legal directories as "absolutely fantastic", an "outstanding junior", "one of the very best juniors at the bar", "wonderfully bright and creative", and a "stand-out performer".   Additionally cited are his:

  • advocacy: " very concise and just excellent on his feet", "utterly assured", "someone who can very easily lead a case in the CAT without a QC";
  • economic and legal knowledge: "tremendous economic skill and experience in legal competition matters", "awfully well informed", "a master of economic arguments", "an expert in public law, he knows the regulatory regime inside out";
  • tactical ability: "incredible tactical awareness", "[his] strategic understanding is highly prized by solicitors and their clients " ;
  • commercial awareness: "a competition lawyer with real commercial nous", "[his] commercial ... understanding is highly prized";
  • teamwork: "genuinely nice and easy to work with", "unstuffy", "hard-working", "a good team player".

Meredith appears in damages actions, claims for interim injunctions and challenges to regulatory decisions, and has considerable experience of cases which raise further issues such as conflict of laws and interaction with intellectual property law. In addition to involvement in cases across all main industry sectors he has particular experience in broadcasting and telecommunications, being described as having "built himself the reputation for being the go-to junior for telecommunications related competition cases", whilst Chambers UK 2012 notes that "scarcely anyone can remember a major telecommunications regulatory challenge in which Meredith Pickford hasn't been involved".

The Lawyer Hot 100 2011 notes that "Pickford possess an impressive list of blue-chip clients ... keeping his diary packed with instructions."  They include: Sky, T-Mobile, Orange (now merged as Everything Everywhere), Samsung, TalkTalk, Cable & Wireless, Alcatel-Lucent, Carphone Warehouse, FA Premier League, ITV, Channel 4, National Grid, EdF, ScottishPower, Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water), Scottish Water, Morrisons, P&O, Stena, Tubelines, Dow Chemical, (IP specialists) Sisvel and IPCom, as well as the OFT, Ofcom, Ofgem and Ofwat.

Prizes / Scholarships:

  • EU and Competition Law Junior of the Junior, 2012 Chambers and Partners Bar Awards
  • Davies Prize for Economics (received second highest first in University).
  • Winner, Rosamund Smith Cup (Middle Temple Mooting Competition)
  • Diplock Scholarship

 

RECENT AND ON-GOING WORK

Court of Appeal

  • National Grid v Ofgem [2010] EWCA Civ 114: abuse of dominance
  • Vodafone Ltd & Ors v British Telecommunications Plc & Anor [2010] EWCA Civ 391: telecommunications regulation
  • H3G v Ofcom [2009] EWCA Civ 683: telecommunications regulation
  • Ofcom & T-Mobile v Floe [2009] Civ 47: telecommunications regulation / competition law
  • T-Mobile & O2 v Ofcom [2008] EWCA Civ 1373: jurisdiction of CAT
  • Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) v Albion Water [2008] EWCA Civ 536: competition - margin squeeze / jurisdiction

Chancery Division/Commercial Court

  • EDF & Ors v ABB, Siemens & Ors (Ch D): competition damages
  • Nokia v IPCOM (Ch D): competition / IP / FRAND
  • Ericsson v Samsung (Ch D): competition / IP / conflict of laws / FRAND
  • H3G v T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and Orange (Comm Ct): competition - alleged breach of Art 81 and 82 / damages
  • SanDisk v Sisvel & others (Ch D): competition - interim injunction / conflict of laws / damages / licensing of IP
  • Cooper Tire & Rubberv Shell, Dow, Bayer (Ch D): competition - damages / conflict of laws / price-fixing
  • Truphone v T-Mobile (Ch D): interim injunction / competition - refusal to purchase
  • Cityhook v Cable & Wireless and others (Ch D): competition - alleged collusion / damages

Administrative Court

  • T-Mobile v Ofcom: regulatory judicial review re spectrum auctions
  • Morrisons v OFT: public law challenge to OFT decision to issue press release (together with related defamation action)
  • Cityhook v OFT, Alcatel & Ors intervening: regulatory judicial review of case closure
  • Excelerate v Ofgem: regulatory judicial review
  • ScottishPower v Ofgem (Admin Ct): regulatory judicial review

Competition Appeal Tribunal

  • Sky & Ors v Ofcom: pay TV regulation / competition / interim relief
  • Morrisons & Ors v OFT (tobacco): competition - alleged price fixing
  • Telefonica O2 v Ofcom: spectrum licensing
  • Everything Everywhere v Ofcom (Stour Marine): termination pricing
  • Morrisons v Competition Commission: interim relief / divestiture remedies
  • BT v Ofcom (080 numbers): termination pricing
  • National Grid v Ofgem: abuse of dominance
  • Carphone Warehouse v Ofcom: pricing of wholesale broadband products
  • T-Mobile, Orange, BT, H3G et al v Ofcom: termination rate disputes
  • T-Mobile v Ofcom: donor conveyance charge
  • Vodafone v Ofcom: mobile number portability
  • BT v Ofcom, H3G v Ofcom, O2 v Ofcom: mobile call termination regulation
  • Floe v Ofcom, T-Mobile intervening: wireless regulation / refusal to supply
  • VIP v Ofcom, T-Mobile intervening: wireless regulation / refusal to supply / interim relief
  • Wanadoo v Ofcom supported by BT (CAT): margin squeeze in broadband
  • Cable & Wireless, Alcatel et al in Cityhook v OFT supported by Cable & Wireless and others: alleged collusion

Competition Commission

  • Carphone Warehouse v Ofcom: pricing of wholesale broadband products
  • BT v Ofcom, H3G v Ofcom: mobile call termination
  • Knauf Insulation / Superglass proposed merger
  • P&O / Stena partial merger

European Court of Justice / European Commission

  • P&O European Ferries v European Commission: State aid
  • for FA Premier League in European Commission Article 81 EC investigation into sale of media rights for Premier League Football

 

COMMERCIAL LAW

All of Meredith's practice is commercial in nature.  His specialism is in commercial disputes with a competition or regulatory aspect.  Please see Competition & Regulatory, Telecommunications & Media, European, and Public & Administrative for a list of cases.

 

COMPETITION/REGULATORY

Meredith is recognised in Chambers UK and Legal 500 as a leading junior in Competition / European / Regulatory law.  He is described as "one of the very best juniors at the bar", "articulate and clever" with "tremendous economic skills", "a competition lawyer with real commercial nous" and "unstuffy, very concise and just excellent on his feet".  Others cite his "incredible tactical awareness" and consider him "a master of economic arguments".

Meredith appears in damages actions, claims for interim injunctions and challenges to regulators' decisions.  He has considerable experiences of cases which raise further issues such as conflict of laws and interaction with intellectual property law. In addition to involvement in cases across all main industry sectors he has particular experience in regulated markets such as media and telecommunications (where he ranked in the top tier and is recognised as "the best of the juniors" at Monckton), water, electricity, gas, financial services and transport. 

Telecommunications & Media

Meredith has extremely wide experience of competition / regulatory cases in the telecommunications and media sectors.  Please see separate Telecommunications & Media section for a list of cases.

Utilities

  • National Grid v Ofgem (Court of Appeal): abuse of dominance
  • Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water) v Albion (Court of Appeal): margin squeeze / jurisdiction
  • Excelerate v Ofgem (Admin Ct): regulatory JR
  • ScottishPower v Ofgem (Admin Ct): regulatory JR
  • Albion Water v Dŵr Cymru (CAT): follow on damages
  • Albion Water v OFWAT supported by Dŵr Cymru - Welsh Water (CAT): abuse of dominance including margin squeeze and excessive pricing
  • Water Industry Commission for Scotland: Scottish Water regulatory determination
  • Advising Scottish Water
  • Regulatory reviews by OFWAT and OFGEM in respect of United Utilities
  • OFWAT investigations under the Competition Act

Transport

  • P&O European Ferries v European Commission (ECJ): State aid
  • Acting for both Stena and P&O in Stena-P&O (CC) merger investigation
  • Manchester Airport - CAA regulatory review
  • Advising shipping companies on competition law issues

Financial Services

  • MasterCard supported by VISA v OFT (CAT): interchange fees under Art 81 and Chapter I
  • Competition Commission inquiry into banking services in the UK to small and medium sized enterprises

Construction

  • Knauf Insulation-Superglass (OFT/CC) merger investigation
  • Competition Act advice to various undertakings in construction industry
  • H&H Celcon-Marley Building Materials (CC) merger investigation

Sport

  • Sky, FAPL & Ors v Ofcom (CAT): forced licensing of Sky's premium sports channels
  • for FA Premier League in European Commission investigation into sale of media rights for Premier League Football

Retail

  • Morrisons v OFT (CAT): alleged price fixing in tobacco products
  • Morrisons' administrative law and defamation challenges to OFT press release concerning alleged price fixing in milk products
  • Morrisons v Competition Commission (CAT): interim relief / divestiture remedies
  • for Morrisons and Safeway in connection with OFT investigations of alleged price fixing activity

Pharmaceuticals

  • Advising pharmaceuticals distributor on competition and other EC law issues
  • Advising biotechnology company in relation to contemplated merger

Other - including manufacturing, agriculture, chemicals, education

  • Various private actions for damages under the Competition Act / EC Treaty
  • Advising commercial undertakings on a wide variety of competition law, regulatory and merger issues
  • Application of competition law principles in VAT

 

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY LAW

Virtually all of Meredith's practice raises issues where EC law is relevant.  Please see Competition & Regulation, Telecommunications & Media and Public & Administrative Law for a list of cases.  Specific cases before European institutions include:

  • P&O European Ferries v European Commission (ECJ): State aid
  • for FA Premier League in European Commission Article 81 EC investigation into sale of media rights for Premier League Football

He has also advised clients in relation to other aspects of EC law such as development aid and rules on commercial agents.

 

PUBLIC & ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The application of public law principles pervades much of Meredith's work, with challenges to the decisions of regulators before the Administrative Court and Competition Appeal Tribunal accounting for a very substantial proportion of his cases.  Please see list of cases on Summary page and also Competition & Regulation, Telecommunications & Media pages.

 

TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Meredith is recognised in Chambers UK as a top tier leading junior in Telecommunications law.  He is described as "the best of the juniors" at Monckton, is recommended for his "tremendous economic skill" and considered to be "awfully well informed and utterly assured in all his dealings" Practitioners believe that "he genuinely knows what he's talking about - he's measured and able to win people over on his points".

Meredith has appeared in a very substantial proportion of all telecommunications-related appeals before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, as well as a large number of telecommunications-related cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal.  At European level, he acted for the FA Premier League in its successful settlement of proceedings brought by the European Commission in connection with the sale of media rights.

Court of Appeal:

High Court:

  • Ericsson v Samsung (Ch D): competition / IP / conflicts of laws / FRAND
  • T-Mobile v Ofcom (Admin Ct): regulatory judicial review concerning spectrum auctions
  • H3G v T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and Orange (Comm Ct): Art 81 and 82 / damages
  • SanDisk v Sisvel (Ch D): interim relief / conflict of laws / competition - MP3 licensing
  • Truphone v T-Mobile (Ch D): interim relief / competition - refusal to purchase
  • Cityhook v Cable & Wireless and others (Ch D): competition - alleged collusion / damages
  • Cityhook v OFT, Cable & Wireless, Alcatel & others intervening (Admin Ct): judicial review
  • T-Mobile & others v Oftel (Admin Ct): regulatory judicial review

CAT:

  • Sky & Ors v Ofcom: pay TV regulation / competition / interim relief
  • Telefonica O2 v Ofcom: spectrum licensing
  • Everything Everywhere v Ofcom (Stour Marine): termination pricing
  • BT v Ofcom (080 numbers): termination pricing
  • Carphone Warehouse v Ofcom: pricing of broadband wholesale products
  • T-Mobile v Ofcom, Orange v Ofcom, BT v Ofcom, H3G v Ofcom, Cable & Wireless and others v Ofcom: termination rate disputes
  • T-Mobile v Ofcom: donor conveyance charge
  • T-Mobile & O2 v Ofcom: jurisdiction of CAT
  • Vodafone v Ofcom, T-Mobile intervening: mobile number portability
  • BT v Ofcom, H3G v Ofcom, O2 v Ofcom, T-Mobile intervening: mobile call termination regulation
  • Floe v Ofcom, T-Mobile intervening: wireless regulation / refusal to supply
  • VIP v Ofcom, T-Mobile intervening: wireless regulation / refusal to supply / interim relief
  • Wanadoo v Ofcom supported by BT (CAT): margin squeeze in broadband
  • Cityhook v OFT supported by Cable & Wireless and others: alleged collusion

European Commission:

  • for Premier League in Article 81 EC investigation into sale of media rights for Premier League Football

Competition Commission

  • 2002 and 2007 investigations into mobile call termination rates

 

VAT & CUSTOMS LAW

Meredith's particular focus has been on cases involving the application of competition principles in VAT, including:

  • Corporation of London v C&E
  • Isle of Wight et al v C&E

He has also acted in a variety of other VAT disputes raising issues of domestic and EC law.