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  • What the Directories Say

Under Telecommunications: "Jon Turner QC is roundly regarded as one of the best competition and regulated utilities counsel in the land." Chambers UK, 2013

Under Environment: "Jon Turner QC is a popular brief for litigious matters in the environmental arena and counts Greenpeace and the Environment Agency amongst his many clients." Chambers UK, 2013

Under Competition/European Law: "he is "formidably bright and incredibly personable," and he "has a complete grasp of incredibly complex cases."" Chambers UK, 2013

Under EU and Competition Law: "The 'very highly regarded' Jon Turner QC has great expertise in litigation, EU law, telecoms and utility regulation."-  Legal 500, 2012

Jon Turner QC is recommended as a leading silk in EU and Competition Law. Legal 500, 2012

Jon Turner QC is recommended as a leading silk in Environment Law. Legal 500, 2012

Under Public & Administrative Law: "Jon Turner QC's talents tend towards competition issues, and he is widely seen as being "a man of fabulous intellect, who always offers great support to those that instruct him." He has been a notable favourite for telecoms operators over the past year, acting in several challenges to Ofcom decisions in all levels of court." - Chambers UK, 2012

Competition/European Law: "Jon Turner QC receives high praise from sources, who state that "he is hands-on, tenacious, and worth his weight in gold as he knows the OFT inside out." "Hard-working and tactically astute, he is simply excellent to work with," according to solicitors. His many notable cases have included leading the team for Reckitt Benckiser in relation to the OFT's abuse of dominance investigation for its conduct in the supply of the stomach remedy Gaviscon." - Chambers UK, 2012

Environment: "Jon Turner QC is "extremely thorough and excellent on his feet." In addition to his expertise in public and environmental law, he is very popular in the competition and telecoms arena. Recently, he represented the Environment Agency in a judicial review brought against it by landfill operator Anti Waste. This case hinged on the agency's approach to compliance with EU-wide landfill laws and EU groundwater protection laws." - Chambers UK, 2012

Telecommunications: "Jon Turner QC has "got the lot - he's a brilliant advocate, and really gets to grip with the case." Famed for his mastery of public and regulatory law, he acted for Carphone Warehouse in one of the largest pieces of telecommunications litigation of 2010, which ran both in the CAT and before the Competition Commission. It consisted of two related, and ultimately successful, appeals against Ofcom decisions concerning the pricing of BT's 'copper wire' telephone and broadband wholesale products." - Chambers UK, 2012

EU & Competition Law recommends 'Fantastic silk' Jon Turner QC who "is 'impressive and hardworking', and appeared in Humber Oil Terminals Trustees Limited (joint venture Totel and Conocophilips) v Associated British Ports."  Legal 500, 2011

Environment recommends Jon Turner QC as a leading silk. Legal 500, 2011

 ""Praised for his outstanding work in both public and private competition cases, Jon Turner draws high acclaim from several peers, and is recognised as a "very good, dynamic and tenacious" practitioner. He has represented Reckitt Benckiser in the OFT's abuse of dominance investigation over allegedly preventing generic versions of heartburn medicine Gaviscon. Turner is also heavily involved in numerous cartel damages claims and follow-on actions, ranging from the gas insulated switchgear cartel to the liquid crystal display and cathode ray tube investigations. He is lauded as a "first-rate" lawyer."" - Global Competition Review: Barrister Survey, 2011

"Jon Turner QC is lauded as "an incisive, commercially focused and adaptable team player" who hoovers up much of the best work in the market. His highlights include acting as lead counsel for National Grid in connection with an abuse of dominance matter before the CAT." In Competition/European Law  - Chambers UK, 2011

Under Public & Administrative Law in  Chambers UK, 2011  "Jon Turner QC 'has a strong reputation as a decisive competition litigator with strength in complex regulatory judicial review. Recent matters for him include acting for the Secretary of State in the Administrative Court and consequent proceedings in the ECJ over the validity of an EU-wide law capping the price of mobile roaming services'."

"Jon Turner QC is a leading competition and telecoms expert with additional strength in public and environmental law. He recently represented a coalition of environmental NGOs involved in a judicial review brought on behalf of the Air Transport Association of America seeking to overturn the EC's greenhouse gas trading programme for aviation activities." Environmental Law - Chambers UK, 2011

Telecommunications Law, Chambers UK, 2011 states that ""Impressive in his focus and strategic thinking," Jon Turner QC is "a courtroom king who can dance round opponents." He is popular as he is "a principled barrister who won't run any old argument, preferring to speak with real conviction on issues he has thought long and hard over." Never short of a brief, he recently represented T-Mobile in a joint appeal with Vodafone and other mobile operators against the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruling that charges for mobile call termination should apply retrospectively."

Under EU and competition the Legal 500, 2010 states that 'the outstanding Jon Turner QC ("exceptionally bright, confident, and who has a very good understanding of the underlying economics") impresses many with his excellent advocacy skills, most notably in the Court of Appeal case  T-Mobile v Ofcom'.

Under health, safety and environment, 'specialising in environmental law, Monckton Chambers' Jon Turner QC was instructed on the ongoing judicial review Air Transport Association of America v DECC'. - Legal 500, 2010

Click here for full details.

JON TURNER QC

QC MA (Cantab), LLM (Harvard)
CALL DATE: 1988 SILK: 2006

SUMMARY

  "Jon Turner QC is lauded as "an incisive, commercially focused and adaptable team player" who hoovers up much of the best work in the market. His highlights include acting as lead counsel for National Grid in connection with an abuse of dominance matter before the CAT." In Competition/European Law  - Chambers UK, 2011

 Jon Turner QC is widely recognised as one of the Bar's foremost litigators in Competition law, EU law, and Telecoms and Utilities Regulation and has been involved in many of the leading cases in these areas in recent years. In addition he is an established and highly regarded litigator in the fields of Commercial, Public & Administrative, and Environmental law. He is the joint first ranked leading silk in The Legal 500's EU and Competition category and a "Star Performer": "Turner 'combines approachability with prodigious intellect and a willingness to get stuck in'. Turner's 'ability both to be part of, and ultimately, to lead a team into court' made him 'one of the foremost QCs at the competition Bar'. Chambers UK (2009) states: "Jon Turner QC is "a blessed barrister," according to clients. As well as being "extremely bright and brilliant at recalling evidence," he enjoys the untrammeled respect of both peers and clients".

 

RECENT MAJOR CASES

Competition law (including Telecoms and Utilities Regulation)

  • T-Mobile -v- Ofcom (Court of Appeal - pending - telecoms regulation, appeal from CAT on retrospectivity)
  • National Grid Plc -v- The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Court of Appeal - pending - abuse of dominance)
  • Carphone Warehouse Plc -v- Ofcom (Competition Appeal Tribunal - pricing of broadband wholesale products - pending)
  • National Grid Plc -v- ABB Ltd & Others (2009) (Chancery Division - Follow-on damages action following EC infringement decision concerning "Gas Insulated Switchgear" cartel)
  • R -v- George & Others (2009) (Court of Appeal Criminal Division - criminal prosecution of executives in the air freight sector for cartel offences)
  • H3G UK Ltd -v- Ofcom & T-Mobile (2009) (Court of Appeal - mobile call termination rates dispute)

EU Law

  • Case C58/08 Vodafone & Others -v- UK (2009, European Court of Justice - pending - reference to the ECJ on the validity of EU rules on the price of mobile phone calls abroad)
  • Case T-111/08 Mastercard & Others -v- UK (2009, Court of First Instance - pending - intervening in relation to appeal against EC Article 81 infringement decision)

Intellectual Property/FRAND/Property Rights

  • Nokia -v- IPCOM (2009, Patents Court - patent licensing, competition law, FRAND)
  • Phililps Electronics and others v. Harvard International PLC (2009, Chancery - exhaustion of rights, competition law, FRAND)
  • Ericsson -v- Samsung (2007, Patents Court - patent licensing, competition, conflicts of law, FRAND)
  • Calor Gas -v- Homebase (2008, Chancery Division - rights to property, damages for unlawful interference of goods, inducement of breach of contract)

Public & Administrative Law (including environmental)

  • Cityhook Ltd -v- Office of Fair Trading & Alcatel & Others (2009, Administrative Court - judicial review of lawfulness of OFT decision to close investigation)
  • Morrisons -v- Office of Fair Trading (2008, judicial review of OFT decision to issue a press release to publicise a provisional finding of guilt in a competition case)
  • R (Anti-waste) -v- Environment Agency (Court of Appeal, 2007 - challenge to the UK's application to the UK's application of the EC Groundfill and Landwater directives)
  • R (Greenpeace) v. Secretary of State (Court of Appeal, Administrative Court, 2005 - challenge to UK fishing regulations in relation to impact on wild dolphins)

 

COMPETITION LAW

Jon was Standing Counsel to the Office of Fair Trading (formerly the Director General of Fair Trading) between 1997 and 2006 and has a wealth of experience in competition litigation before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and in the civil courts.  

Before the introduction of the Competition Act 1998, Jon acted for the OFT in several of the OFT's heaviest cases in the Restrictive Practices Court (the Net Book Agreement case, the Premier League case and the Over-The-Counter Medicaments litigation). He also acted in numerous judicial reviews for the regulators and other governmental bodies, including the former Monopolies and Mergers Commission.

Since the introduction of the new competition regime, he has appeared in most of the appeals to the Competition Appeal Tribunal. He has also acted extensively in private damages actions for breach of competition law.

 

Recent major and ongoing cases (including Telecoms and Utilities Regulation) include:

  • Acted as lead counsel for Reckitt Benckiser in the OFT investigation in 2011 concerning the supply of Gaviscon, and now acts as lead counsel in the subsequent , current High Court damages action brought against Reckitt Benckiser by more than 150 NHS bodies.
  • City Electrical Factors Ltd & Electrical Waste Recycling Group -v- Philips Electronics GE Lighting & Ors. Acting as lead counsel in currently the biggest, stand alone competition damages action in the High Court.
  • Deutsche Bahn AG & Ors -v- Morgan Crucible & Ors: Achieved landmark Court of Appeal victory in 2012 in the CAT appeal on time limits in this follow-on damages litigation
  • Pilkington -v- The Commission: Acting for one of the main parties in the EU General Court on an appeal against a Commission cartel infringement decision
  • Toshiba Carrier & Ors -v- KME Yorshire & Ors (High Court claim for damages against the copper tubing cartel) Achieved Court of Appeal victory in the 2012 challenge to the right to sue an English subsidiary of an international group in the UK
  • Humber Oil Terminal Trustees -v- Associated British Ports (High Court - Abuse of dominance) Acting as lead counsel for the port authority in major High Court litigation involving abuse of dominance claims. Achieved victory in the High Court and (2012) in the Court of Appeal in relation to strike-out claims of abuse.
  • Case T-111/08 Mastercard & Others -v- Commission - Acted for the United Kingdom in the EU General Court, successfully resisting the challenge by MasterCard and its member banks to the EU Commission's decision of infringement in relation to multilateral interchange fees on payment cards (2012)
  • Acted jointly for three of the major mobile telephone companies in the UK (Vodafone; Three; Everything Everywhere) in a successful landmark appeal in the Court of Appeal (2012) against a Competition Appeal Tribunal judgment upholding "ladder pricing" by BT on 08 number charges
  • BT, Everything Everywhere, Three and Vodafone v Ofcom (appeal under s.195 of the Communications Act 2003, representing Everything Everywhere): Acted in a judicial review challenge to the decision of the Competition Commission on mobile call termination charges in the UK.  Case now on appeal to the Court of Appeal (2012).
  • Acting for a major cement and aggregates producer in relation to the EC investigation into alleged cartel activity
  • National Grid Plc -v- ABB Ltd & Others (Chancery Division, 2009 - Follow-on damages action following EC infringement decision concerning "Gas Insulated Switchgear" cartel)
  • R -v- George & Others (Court of Appeal Criminal Division, - criminal prosecution of executives in the air freight sector for cartel offences) - Achieved victory in the Court of Criminal Appeal on a challenge to the compatibility of the UK cartel offence with the EU Modernisation Regulation
  • Acting for a major construction firm in the OFT investigation into bid rigging in the sector
  • T-Mobile -v- Ofcom (Court of Appeal- telecoms regulation, successful landmark appeal from CAT on retrospectivity of judgments on price control appeals)
  • National Grid Plc -v- The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Court of Appeal, - abuse of dominance: acted as lead counsel for National Grid before the regulator, the Competition Appeal Tribunal, and in the Court of Appeal.
  • H3G UK Ltd -v- Ofcom & T-Mobile (2009, Court of Appeal - acted for Everything Everywhere before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in the first wave of mobile call termination rates disputes under the Communications Act 2003)

Competition law cases before the Competition Appeal Tribunal include:

  • Deutsche Bahn AG and others v Morgan Crucible v Others (follow on damages claim before the CAT and appeal to the Court of Appeal on limitation issues).
  • BT, Everything Everywhere, Three and Vodafone v Ofcom (appeal under s.193 of the Communications Act 2003, representing Everything Everywhere)
  • 26 July 2012
  • Telefonica O2 UK Ltd, Everything Everywhere Ltd, Vodafone Ltd and Hutchison 3G UK Ltd v BT PLC and Ofcom (the 080 numbers litigation)
  • T-Mobile -v- Ofcom (Court of Appeal -- telecoms regulation, appeal from CAT on retrospectivity)
  • Carphone Warehouse Plc -v- Ofcom (Competition Appeal Tribunal - pricing of broadband wholesale products )
  • English Welsh and Scottish Railways v. E.ON [2007] All ER (D) 389
  • Inntrepreneur Pub Company (CPC) and others v Crehan [2006] UKHL38
  • Argos Ltd & Anor v. Office of Fair Trading [2006] EWCA CIV 1318
  • JJB Sports PLC v. Office of Fair Trading [2005] Comp AR 29 (Counsel for the OFT in trial relating to price-fixing by retailers and suppliers of Umbro replica football kit)
  • Claymore Dairies Ltd. v. Office of Fair Trading [2005] CAT 30 (Counsel for OFT in case relating to allegations of abusive market behaviour in the Scottish milk market)
  • Pernod-Ricard v Office of Fair Trading [2005] Comp AR 894 (Counsel for OFT in case relating to alleged abusive market behaviour in the drinks industry)
  • Passion for Life Healthcare Limited v Persee Medica SAS [2004] EWHC 3377 (Ch) (Counsel for French distributors of an anti-snoring remedy in an application for an interlocutory injunction in the Chancery Division on the part of the supplier)
  • Genzyme Ltd. v. Office of Fair Trading [2004] Comp AR 358 (Counsel for the OFT in a case relating to abusive market behaviour by a supplier of a life-saving drug)
  • Aquavitae v. Director General of Water Services [2004] Comp AR 117 (Counsel for the water industry regulator in a case relating to allegations of abusive behaviour by the incumbent water undertakers)
  • Freeserve.com v DGT [2003] Comp AR 1
  • Hasbro Ltd [2003] Comp AR 59
  • Freeserve.com v. Oftel [2003] Comp AR 1 (Counsel for telecoms regulator in case relating to allegations of abusive behaviour by BT in the emerging broadband telecommunications market)

Other private actions include:

  • International commercial arbitration relating to commercial dispute between a movie channel and a Dutch cable company (Counsel for joint venture company established by two movie studies raising issues of EC competition law)

Jon is one of the few QCs to have been involved in the series of Patent Court cases concerning competition law and the application of Fair, Reasonable and Non Discriminatory (FRAND) terms by standard-setting organisations that govern the licensing of essential patent rights.

Intellectual Property/FRAND/Property Rights:

  • Nokia -v- IPCOM (2009, Patents Court - patent licensing, competition law, FRAND)
  • Phililps Electronics and others v. Harvard International PLC (2009, Chancery - exhaustion of rights, competition law, FRAND)
  • Ericsson -v- Samsung (2007, Patents Court - patent licensing, competition, conflicts of law, FRAND)
  • Calor Gas -v- Homebase (2008, Chancery Division - rights to property, damages for unlawful interference of goods, inducement of breach of contract)
  • Intel Corporation v VIA Technologies Inc [2003] UKCLR 106 (Junior Counsel for Taiwanese suppliers of computer chipsets, in patent litigation against Intel raising questions of EC competition law, in Court of Appeal and High Court)

EU LAW

  • Case C58/08 Vodafone & Others -v- UK (European Court of Justice - reference to the ECJ on the validity of EU rules on the price of mobile phone calls abroad)
  • Case T-111/08 Mastercard & Others -v- UK (Court of First Instance - intervening in relation to appeal against EC Article 81 infringement decision)
  • Devilbiss v. NHSPASA [2005] EWHC 1757 (Counsel for commercial supplier of domiciliary oxygen services in a challenge to a government award of contracts for providing domiciliary oxygen across the country involving questions under the EC and national rules on public procurement)
  • Novartis v Comptroller of Patents (ECJ Case 207/03, 21 April 2005 - Counsel for the United Kingdom in a reference to the European Court on the law relating to patent protection in the medicinal field in the EEA)
  • Case C-94/2000 Roquette Freres SA (European Court of Justice - protection against arbitrary or disproportionate intervention by public authorities)

 

JUDICIAL REVIEW & ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Jon has strong experience of public law litigation, particularly in the commercial regulatory and environmental, agricultural and wildlife law fields.  Recent cases include:

  • R (Cityhook Ltd) -v- Office of Fair Trading & Alcatel & Others (Administrative Court 2008 - judicial review of lawfulness of OFT decision to close investigation)
  • R (Morrisons) -v- Office of Fair Trading (2008 - judicial review of OFT decision to issue a press release to publicise a provisional find of guilty in a carte case)
  • R (Anti-waste) -v- Environment Agency (Court of Appeal - challenge to the UK's application to the UK's application of the EC Groundfill and Landwater directives)
  • O2 and others v. Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform [2007] All ER (D) 120
  • R (Lewis) v Environment Agency [2005] EWHC 1110 (Admin) (Counsel for the Environment Agency in a judicial review of the Agency's decision to allow the operation of a large sub-water table landfill, raising points of principle under the EC Landfill Directive, Groundwater Directive, and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive).
  • R (Greenpeace) v Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs [2005] EWHC 2144 (Admin); [2005] EWCA Civ 1656 (Counsel for Greenpeace in the High Court and Court of Appeal on a judicial review of a Government measure relating to dolphin conservation in the English Channel)
  • R (Greenpeace) v Secretary of State for the Environment (Court of Appeal) [2003] Env LR 203 (Counsel for Greenpeace in case relating to the import of Brazilian mahogany under EC regulations implementing the international Convention on Trade in Endangered Species)
  • R (Levy) v Environment Agency [2003] Env LR 245 (and Court of Appeal) (Counsel for Environment Agency in case relating to the burning of waste tyres as fuel in an industrial kiln)

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • Trinity College, Cambridge: M.A. (law). Harvard Law School, Mass. USA. LLM
  • ACFI Prize for achieving first place in professional bar examinations in EC law
  • Standing Counsel to the Office of Fair Trading from 1997 to 2006
  • Junior Counsel to the Crown (A Panel) from 2002 until taking silk
  • Attorney-at-law at the New York Bar
  • Languages: Good French; working German

Publications

Contributor to Bellamy and Child's Common Market Law of Competition, 4th edn. and supplement (Chapter on Civil Remedies); contributor to supplement to Bellamy and Child's Common Market Law of Competition, 3rd edn. (Chapters on Article 86, Enforcement and Procedure, Vertical Agreements affecting Distribution and Supply).

Conferences

Regular speaker at competition law, human rights, public law and utilities conferences

Awards

Jon was nominated as EU/Competition Silk of the Year 2012 by Chambers and Partners.

Jon won the "Junior of the Year" award in the Competition/EU section at the Chambers Bar Awards 2006, an award for which he was nominated the year before. They noted: "Jon Turner has amassed vast experience as senior standing counsel to the Director General of Fair Trading and he also represents clients in private competition law actions. He has regularly appeared before the CAT in highly visible matters such as the recent MasterCard litigation. Commentators highly praise his encyclopaedic knowledge of the law and unparalleled trial skills."