Arnold & Porter recruits UK-qualified competition litigator from the Bar as private enforcement at the Competition Appeal Tribunal intensifies
Arnold & Porter has hired Nicola Chesaites as a partner in its antitrust and competition litigation practice in London. Chesaites is both a UK-qualified barrister and a Belgian advocaat — a dual qualification that spans the English and EU bar — with a practice spanning competition damages litigation, collective actions under the UK's private enforcement regime, and complex EU litigation. She has represented claimants and defendants before the English courts, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) — the specialist UK tribunal for competition law claims — and appeared before the EU General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on behalf of corporates and EU institutions. Her case portfolio covers banking resolution, trade, sanctions, pharmaceuticals, and transportation. The hire reflects the sustained growth of competition damages litigation in the UK, where CAT collective actions (the UK equivalent of US class actions in competition law) have made London an increasingly significant venue for large-scale private enforcement claims. The concentration of competition litigators with EU court experience also signals that post-Brexit, firms are building practices that can handle parallel proceedings across UK and EU jurisdictions — particularly relevant as the EU and UK run separate but often overlapping investigations into the same anticompetitive conduct.
Why this matters
The CAT has become one of Europe's busiest competition damages venues, with collective actions (opt-out class actions for competition law claims) generating significant litigation volumes in sectors including financial services, tech platforms, and automotive. Firms recruiting experienced dual-qualified competition litigators are investing in a practice area that is structurally growing: every CMA or European Commission infringement decision creates a downstream private enforcement claim, and the CAT's collective proceedings regime has lowered the barrier to bringing large-scale damages actions. Chesaites's dual English/EU qualification positions Arnold & Porter to advise on the cross-border claims that are increasingly common as regulators on both sides of the Channel investigate the same conduct.
On the Ground
A trainee on a competition damages claim at the CAT would assist with disclosure review and categorisation of documents relevant to the alleged infringement, prepare chronology of the anticompetitive conduct, and assist with witness statement bundle compilation for the liability phase of proceedings.
Interview prep
Soundbite
Every CMA or EC infringement decision seeds a CAT collective action — competition litigation is structurally growing regardless of economic conditions.
Question you might get
“How does the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal's collective proceedings regime differ from traditional opt-in group litigation, and what are the key risks for a defendant facing a CAT collective action?”
Full answer
Arnold & Porter has brought in a dual-qualified UK barrister and Belgian advocaat with CAT and EU court experience to strengthen its London competition litigation practice. This matters because the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has become a major venue for opt-out collective actions, where claimants can bring competition damages claims on behalf of entire classes of affected parties without individual sign-up — a regime that has driven significant litigation volumes since its introduction. The broader trend is the multiplication of parallel proceedings: a single antitrust investigation by the CMA or European Commission typically generates follow-on damages claims in multiple jurisdictions, requiring firms to field litigators qualified in both English and EU law. This hire signals Arnold & Porter's intent to compete for the high-value, multi-jurisdictional competition damages work that is increasingly defining the London disputes market.
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