Overview

Corvane Ryle's Cartel Investigations team defends companies and individuals in criminal and civil investigations of price fixing, bid rigging, market allocation and information exchange. We act before the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, the European Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority and competition authorities across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Cartel cases are usually international and always time-sensitive. A company that learns of a problem has a short window to decide whether to apply for leniency, and the decision depends on facts that are still being established. We run internal investigations quickly, advise on leniency and immunity applications in several jurisdictions at once, and manage the sequencing of disclosures so that the company's position is protected everywhere.

Enforcement is expanding. Agencies have turned their attention to labor market agreements, such as no-poach and wage-fixing arrangements, to public procurement, and to algorithmic pricing and information exchange through common vendors or software. In the United States, whistleblower incentives and cooperation with foreign agencies add to the pressure. We help clients assess these risks before an agency arrives and design compliance programs that deal with them.

When an investigation ends, civil claims often follow. We defend cartel cases in federal court and in the English and EU courts, including opt-out collective actions, and we advise on contribution, joint and several liability, and settlement. We also represent individual executives, who may need separate counsel from the company.

Lucia Ferrante in Brussels and Priya Raghunathan in London lead the team, working with Washington, D.C. colleagues and with our White Collar Defense & Investigations lawyers. Together they have handled investigations across retail, consumer goods, transport, technology and financial services.

Key lawyers

Our cartel team coordinates investigations across Brussels, London and Washington, D.C.

• Lucia Ferrante, Partner, Brussels
• Priya Raghunathan, Partner, London

Representative experience

• Advised a multinational on a leniency application and a coordinated investigation in four jurisdictions.
• Represented a transport company in a European Commission cartel investigation and obtained a reduction in fine.
• Defended a manufacturer in a DOJ grand jury investigation that closed without charges.
• Advised a retailer on the antitrust assessment of an information-sharing arrangement with suppliers.
• Represented an executive in a criminal antitrust investigation and negotiated a resolution.
• Defended a consumer goods company against follow-on damages claims in England and the United States.
• Conducted an investigation into alleged no-poach agreements at a services company.