EU Litigation and Appellate

Overview

Sidley’s EU litigation team provides clients from a range of industries with the very best representation on disputes relating to EU law, whether such disputes arise before national courts in the EU’s Member States, or before the EU Courts in Luxembourg: the General Court or the Court of Justice. Our lawyers have a proven track record of using appeals to the EU and Member State courts to set aside or reinterpret EU laws and decisions in ways that help our clients restore or improve the terms of market access. In addition, we improve outcomes in proceedings before the EU institutions and agencies by leveraging the prospect of litigation into favorable results.

First-Tier National Rankings in Antitrust Law and Litigation – Antitrust
U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Survey 2020

Deep Bench, Broad Perspective

Our EU litigation team, equipped with lawyers qualified in a large number of EU jurisdictions, acts for clients with business activities in the European Union, wherever they are based. On behalf of claimants, defendants and third-party interveners, we have won significant victories in ground-breaking cases in an array of areas, including:

Access to documents
Cartels and other antitrust violations
Chemicals and plant protection product regulation
Consumer protection
Customs duties and charges
Data protection and privacy
Damages actions against the EU
Environmental protection

Financial services regulation
Intellectual property
Legal privilege
Life sciences product regulation
(drugs, devices, cosmetics and food)
Market access and free movement of goods and services
Merger review appeals
Online services

EXPERIENCE

We have represented companies in many complex and high-profile cases, including:

Mastercard as an intervener in a victory in the Court of Justice regarding competition law-influenced aspects of the EU’s Interchange Fee Regulation.
DocMorris N.V., Europe’s largest mail-order pharmacy, and Deutsche Parkinson Vereinigung, a German patient association, in a landmark case concerning cross-border internet sales of prescription medicines. This case was recognized as a “standout” matter in the Dispute Resolution section of the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe 2017 report.
Wortmann KG, a major shoe company, in a claim for payment of interest on repaid duties, before the German Fiscal Court and before the Court of Justice of the European Union. This case was recognized as a “commended” matter in the Dispute Resolution section of the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe 2017 report.
A coalition of footwear importers and retailers in devising and executing an EU litigation strategy involving disputes with customs authorities in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. We also represented the same clients in litigation before Member State courts.
Bayer CropScience, one of the world’s largest pesticide manufacturers, in its appeal before the EU General Court concerning restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid substances in plant protection products.
CropLife America, the American Chemistry Counsel and the National Association of Manufacturers as interveners in the Court of Justice of the European Union in a high-profile case regarding access to regulatory data under Aarhus rules.
The global nickel industry in the EU General Court and Court of Justice in a challenge to the European Commission’s classification of all known nickel compounds.
One of the largest UK-based mining groups in a damages claim against the EU for the abusive imposition of punitive import duties on its products.
One of Europe’s largest gambling companies in a challenge against a Dutch restriction on cross-border online gambling services. We also represented the same client before the Dutch courts.
The European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA) as an intervener in the appeal before the European Court of Justice against the General Court’s judgment in the Akzo case regarding legal privilege for in-house counsel. We served as co-counsel to the ECLA.