Who? Jess Steele, antitrust litigation partner at Freshfields, London.
Why is she in the news? Freshfields secured a landmark victory for London & Southeastern Railway (LSER) and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), following a long-running class action before the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The tribunal unanimously ruled last week that LSER and GTR did not breach competition law in the way they marketed and sold specific train tickets known as ‘boundary fares’.
Thoughts on the case: ‘This case is an important restatement of the distinction between competition and consumer law. Just because a company might be in a dominant position does not mean that it has an obligation to ensure its customers always select the best possible product for them – as the tribunal says, competition law is not a general law of consumer protection. There has been a recent trend in the competition courts of claimants bringing what are in reality consumer issues as competition claims in order to benefit from the opt-out class actions regime available only for competition claims. This judgment confirms that in order to succeed in that sort of claim, claimants will need to demonstrate that the conduct complained of actually meets the high bar for an abuse of a dominant position under competition law. There will always be things that a company might have done differently or better, but that is nowhere near enough to demonstrate that conduct is abusive.’
Dealing with the media: ‘There’s been natural media attention in respect of this case because of the subject matter – everyone has an opinion on UK train services. But what’s great for our clients is finally to be able to demonstrate that – as we have been saying all along – none of the conduct criticised in this claim was abusive.’
Why become a lawyer? ‘Practising law is about finding practical solutions to problems. I wanted a career that was varied and interesting but also of practical application, where I could see the impact of my advice in real time. I find it really rewarding to work with clients to get to a solution for complex, high-value issues.’
Career high: ‘Probably the outcome of this case. We’ve been fighting on behalf of LSER and GTR since 2019 and it’s great to have achieved this result for them.’
Career low: ‘Too many to count! Most of them involving document review.’
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