Sidley Adds Competition Litigator Elaine Whiteford in London

London – Sidley is pleased to announce that Elaine Whiteford has joined the firm’s Litigation practice group in Sidley’s office in London, where her practice will focus on competition and antitrust litigation, investigations, and related matters. She joins from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where she was a partner in their Litigation and Antitrust & Competition practices.

Ms. Whiteford is a leading contentious and regulatory competition lawyer. For more than 25 years, she has represented large multinational companies in their highest-profile competition and antitrust disputes. Her experience includes competition damages cases ─ both cartels and abuse of dominance claims ─ in the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, the English High Court, the English Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. She has also acted in a wide range of claims brought under the UK’s collective actions regime and has also advised in connection with a number of regulatory investigations, involving, amongst others, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), other regulators around the globe, and, pre-Brexit, the European Commission. Ms. Whiteford has also represented clients challenging regulatory decisions, including merger prohibition decisions.

Ms. Whiteford is highly ranked in both Legal 500 UK and Chambers UK for “Competition Law” and “Competition Litigation.”

“Our clients with UK and European exposure face a steady stream of competition claims from follow-on damages to collective actions, and they want advisers who have been in the room for the most significant cases. Elaine brings exactly that deep experience,” said Yvette Ostolaza, Chair of Sidley’s Management Committee. “Elaine is already well known to many of our lawyers and highly regarded by several of our clients, she is a natural fit with our culture of collaboration, and will strengthen our ability to support clients alongside colleagues across our global litigation and antitrust practices.”

“The scale and complexity of competition damages claims in the UK, including collective actions, are driving demand for specialist counsel, and we are continuing to invest in those practices to support our clients,” said Tom Thesing, managing partner of Sidley’s London office and a member of the firm’s Management and Executive Committees. “Elaine’s arrival is a further step in the sustained investment we are making in London, where we have grown significantly and continue to add leading partners across our disputes, regulatory, and transactional practices.”

Sidley has added more than 30 partners in London in addition to promoting 15 of its lawyers to its partnership in the last three years. These include Philip Hertz, Melissa Coakley, James Inness, Jeremy Trinder, Sean Carney, Ed Gander, David Stewart, Clive Gringras, Jayanthi Sadanandan, Sam Hamilton, James MacArthur, and Ramy Wahbeh. During this period, Sidley has continued its more than decade-long year-on-year revenue growth and has advised clients on many of their most sophisticated matters across its transactions, disputes, and regulatory practices.

Sidley is “Built to Win®” at each stage of the litigation process and counts more than 750 litigators worldwide. With true geographic reach, the firm can field winning litigation teams in virtually any forum where its clients find themselves facing a dispute.

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