David Howe


HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Has conducted competition damages claims in the English High Court, Court of Appeal and Competition Appeal Tribunal
  • Has appeared in the European Court of Justice
  • Part of the team from the first follow-on damages action to go to trial in the Competition Appeal Tribunal
  • Regularly publishes on Competition Law

BIO:

David Howe is a senior consultant for Scott+Scott London and is a competition, regulatory and public lawyer and litigator.

He trained at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and, after qualification, spent a further eight years in the competition and dispute resolution teams there.

Mr. Howe has acted for a range of multinational clients on the full spectrum of competition investigations (UK and internationally) litigation and advice. He has a detailed working knowledge of the collective action regime under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and experience working with a range of third-party funders and ATE providers in relation to a range of fee and funding models.

He also has significant wider expertise, including in relation to bribery, public and regulatory law, and human rights matters. In addition to “classic” human rights claims, he also has expertise in the evolving body of hard and soft law arising out of the UN “Ruggie Principles” on Business and Human Rights.

Outside of the legal world, Mr. Howe is a governor at a local primary school. He enjoys swimming, scuba diving, hiking, cycling, travel and history. Given the opportunity, he also loves losing himself in a good book.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES:

  • Acting for a large number of retailers (including Vodafone, Hermès, GrandVision, Michelin, Dunelm, Soho House, Grange Hotels) in their claims in the English High Court against Visa and Mastercard in relation to anti-competitive interchange fee
  • Acting for Kodak in claims brought against large banks and commodities traders in relation to the manipulation of the aluminium market
  • Mark McLaren Class Representative Limited v MOL (Europe Africa) Ltd and Others
  • Acting for the Claimant, Vadim Benyatov, in a claim against his former employee, Credit Suisse, relating to losses suffered by Mr Benyatov while working for the bank in Romania – Vadim Don Benyatov v Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, Claim No. QB-2018-001043 (The Lawyer’s and Law360’s “Top 20” cases to watch in 2020 and 2021)
  • Coordinated a multi-jurisdictional regulatory and public law strategy for a major consumer products company
  • Has acted on a number of judicial reviews for a range of clients, including on a significant judicial review of the lawfulness of domestic consumer products legislation, relying primarily on EU free movement and human rights grounds

REPRESENTATIVE CASES AT PRIOR FIRMS:

  • Has assisted a major technology company on a full Ruggie-compliant assessment of, and mitigation strategy for, a new project
  • Acted for Roche in its defence of litigation arising out of the Vitamins cartel (including in the Devenish litigation, which ruled on the availability of restitutionary and exemplary damages in follow-on claims)
  • Acted for EWS in its defence of claims brought by the administrators of Enron for damages following EWS’ abuse of dominance