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Tim Ward KC, joint Head of Chambers, is widely recognised as a leading litigator and advocate in the fields of competition, telecommunications, public law and EU law. Legal directories list him as a leading individual in each of these fields, and describe him as “a very adept and able strategist”, “a genuinely talented advocate with the intellectual firepower to deal with complex cases” , “technically outstanding, a first-rate advocate, great with clients”, “responsive and always accessible,” “a persuasive advocate who gives everything to the cause”, a “natural choice for regulatory judicial review” and shows “the highest levels of skill in his cross-examination of witnesses.”
Tim has particular expertise in commercial and regulatory matters, acting in disputes across the full range of regulated industries, including energy, water, telecoms, broadcasting and aviation. He has expertise in cases with a technical or economic dimension. His competition practice covers all aspects of competition law, including damages claims, class actions, mergers and penalties. His practice is international. He has appeared in more than 50 cases before the European Courts (including the EFTA Court) and has over 30 reported cases in the field of public law, including before the Supreme Court.
He recently won the first Trucks cartel damages claim brought to trial.
Prior to taking silk, Tim was a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel.
Tim sits as an adjudicator on the judicial panels of both the Rugby Football Union and the Football Association. He is a member of the Sports Resolutions Panel of arbitrators and mediators.
He is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and has served as Master of Finance.
Tim was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Falcon by the President of Iceland as a result of his successful defence of Iceland in the “Icesave” case in the EFTA Court. You can read more here.
Tim has been called to the Bar of Ireland.
Tim is an experienced competition litigator, who has acted in the full breadth of competition matters. He appears frequently in the courts and Competition Appeal Tribunal in cases including class action certification, cartel penalty appeals, competition damages actions (both follow on and standalone), injunction applications and claims for judicial review under the Enterprise Act 2002. He has also appeared before the Competition and Markets Authority and has experience regarding applications for leniency and early resolution.
Damages:
Mergers and market reviews:
Competition penalties:
Examples of advisory work:
Tim has been a market leader in telecommunications for many years. His practice draws upon a detailed knowledge of the industry and his strengths in competition law and public law. He has been instructed in most of the significant telecoms issues in the UK in the last decade, as well acting for a number of international clients. His litigation experience includes judicial reviews, appeals to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, competition investigations and dispute resolution.
Tim has acted for fixed, mobile and cable operators, a variety of broadcasters and (occasionally) for regulators, in matters such as those listed below.
Tim has exceptionally broad experience of litigation and advocacy before the European Courts. He has wide experience of litigating EU law issues in the domestic courts including the Supreme Court and has acted in many references from the English courts to the CJEU. He has acted in over 50 cases before the European Courts including the EFTA Court.
Tim’s public law practice is predominantly concerned with commercial, European, and regulatory challenges, including tax matters. He has, however, acted in almost every conceivable kind of public matter in both domestic and in the CJEU and ECtHR. He has particular expertise in cases where public law and EU law overlap.
Tim has wide experience of the competition and regulatory aspects of Sport. He is a member of the RFU and FA Judicial Panels and a member of Sports Resolution’s panel of arbitrators and mediators. As panelist, he has heard cases concerning:
Tim has acted as counsel in several matters concerning sports broadcasting rights:
Tim has also advised in cases regarding confidential sports matters:
Administrative & Public Law: “Tim is brilliant in complex regulatory judicial review. He has real experience and understanding of regulatory decision making.” “Tim is a great claimant advocate and he is super bright and charming – a full package.” – Chambers UK, 2024
Competition Law: “He is a highly effective, tenacious cross-examiner who focuses on the key issues.” “He’s prepared and passionate about running arguments.” “Tim prepares in a detailed way, and is very careful and thorough about how he positions arguments.” “Tim is an excellent advocate and one of the few specialist leading counsel to combine expertise with a natural aptitude for cross-examination” – Chambers UK, 2024
European Law: “He is a very good advocate on his feet, and drafts very good, clear submissions. He has a good rapport with the Bench, is easy to work with, and is a team player.” “Tim prepares in a detailed way, and is very careful and thorough about how he positions arguments. He is a highly effective cross-examiner, who is tenacious and focuses on key issues.” Chambers UK, 2024
Telecommunications: “He gives cases his entire focus and never stops thinking about the key issues in the case.” “Enormously experienced, he’s collaborative and a calming presence in court.” – Chambers UK, 2024
Leading silk in Competition: “A leading silk who is very focussed on obtaining the best outcome for his client, Tim attacks his cases with enthusiasm and vigour, and is highly communicative.” – Legal 500, 2024
Leading silk in Administrative Law and Human Rights – Legal 500, 2024
Leading silk in European Union Law – Legal 500, 2024
Leading silk in IT and Telecoms (Regulatory) – Legal 500, 2024
Administrative & Public Law: “He is a first-rate advocate, who is always clear and responsive.” – Chambers UK, 2023
Competition Law: “He is an excellent advocate who is persuasive in court” – Chambers UK and Chambers Global, 2023
European Law: “A first-rate advocate and one of the best of his generation. He is always clear and responsive.” Chambers UK, 2023
Telecommunications: “He is by far one of the best silks in terms of his client-handling skills.” “He is brilliant. He is highly commercial, very pragmatic and someone who thinks about the overarching objective of the client.” – Chambers UK, 2023
Leading silk in Competition: “Tim is a real stress tester of arguments and judges very well the exact points to push on. He demonstrates real conviction in his advocacy and shows the highest levels of skill in his cross-examination of witnesses.” – Legal 500, 2023
Leading silk in Administrative Law and Human Rights: “He is bright, strategic, calm and a great advocate.” – Legal 500, 2023
Leading silk in European Union Law – Legal 500, 2023
Leading silk in IT and Telecoms (Regulatory) – Legal 500, 2023
“Tim Ward QC receives widespread endorsement as “a very strong advocate who really stands out in the competition bar”. He is excellent due to his ability to “turn difficult issues over in his mind and come up with innovative solutions”.” – Competition, Who’s Who Legal Global Guide 2022
“Very astute at identifying the impression a judge will form of any argument and challenges strategies constructively to ensure they land well with the court.” – Telecoms, Who’s Who Legal UK Bar 2022
Recommended in Competition, Who’s Who Legal UK Bar 2022
Administrative & Public Law: “He has a laser-like focus on the key points among complex issues and a lot of detail.” “He’s a great team player, very generous to everyone in the team and goes out of his way to be supportive” – Chambers UK, 2022
Telecommunications: “He is an exceptional advocate. He has an amazing ability to distil issues in a digestible way, but he is also incredibly persuasive and engaging.” “I am always impressed by how insightful he is and how he can take complicated strategic issues and come up with a sound assessment.” – Chambers UK, 2022
European Law: “An extremely capable advocate with great client-handling skills.” “He is really great at working as part of our team. He is very practical, commercial and experienced.” – Chambers UK, 2022
Competition Law: “Tim has practical understanding of how things play out. He brings a certain gravitas to the case.” “Deeply analytical, very calm, a team player.” – Chambers UK and Chambers Global, 2022
Leading silk in Competition: “Tim is incredibly hard working, thoughtful and very intelligent. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty and really gets to grips with the detail of a case.” – Legal 500, 2022
Leading silk in Administrative and Public Law (including Elections): “Technically outstanding, a fantastic advocate. Great with clients – very user friendly. He is our first choice silk for public law work.” – Legal 500, 2022
Leading silk in European Union Law (Leading Silks): “An extremely capable advocate with great client handling skills.” – Legal 500, 2022
Leading silk in IT and Telecoms (Regulatory) – Legal 500, 2022
“Known for being “quick to understand and apply the client’s goals in his advice, strategies and arguments”. His impressive experience includes acting as lead counsel in the large-scale cartel damages claims.” – Competition, Who’s Who Legal 2021
Administrative & Public Law: “A fantastic advocate with great strategic skills. He is our go-to silk every time.” “He has a great range and is excellent on the law. He’s also very client-friendly, and really good at answering the question the client actually wants answered.” – Chambers UK, 2021
Telecommunications: “Excellent, user-friendly, bright, and a good advocate.” “He really gets into the detail of a case.” – Chambers UK, 2021
European Law: “Tim is technically very impressive, and an excellent advocate and also extremely client-friendly.” – Chambers UK, 2021
Competition Law: “He is an absolute delight to work with: a real team player, who makes himself available and is very client-friendly.” “He obviously knows cartel damages inside out, is very good on his feet and gives sound advice.” “Tim is focused, super sharp and a pleasure to work with.” – Chambers UK and Chambers Global, 2021
Leading silk in Administrative and public law (including elections): ‘‘Technically outstanding, a fantastic advocate. Great with clients – very user friendly. He is our first choice silk for public law work’’ – Legal 500, 2021
Leading silk in Competition: ‘‘Tim is a hands on, hard working silk, who is an attractive, reasonable and persuasive advocate. He would be my first choice for pretty much everything competition related.’’– Legal 500, 2021
Leading silk in EU Law: ‘‘Technically outstanding, very user friendly with clients. Tim is also a fantastic advocate – very clear and assertive when necessary.’’ – Legal 500. 2021
Leading silk in Telecoms (regulatory): ‘‘A very good team player who is a pleasure to work with. He is very thorough in his analysis and is excellent at anticipating lines of argument.’’ – Legal 500. 2021
“Hailed as a leading name at the UK Bar for complex commercial and competition-related disputes in the telecoms arena.” – Telecoms, Who’s Who Legal UK Bar 2020
Administrative & Public Law: “Tim Ward is a first choice for competition cases with a public law crossover; he’s very user-friendly and great with clients.” “He’s strong on the technical law and will give clear and accurate advice. He keeps it logical and keeps the attention of the judge.” “He always holds his ground and is willing to put in the extra effort to learn the client’s business. He’s very commercial in terms of strategy.” – Chambers UK, 2020
Telecommunications: “A barrister who is clearly highly thought of by the big players in the market, he’s a very reassuring, nice guy who goes down well with the clients and the court.” “He has a wonderful, down-to-earth, straightforward and natural manner which is very appealing to judges.” “Strong on the technical aspects of the law, he gives clear and accurate advice and is good at working with the lay clients.” – Chambers UK, 2020
European Law: “A top performer. Clear and robust in marrying EU law with UK law.” – Chambers UK, 2020
Competition Law: “Looks to deal with issues head on, before the other side raises the point.” “He’s extremely personable, gets stuck in to the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day drafting,” has “good strategic judgement and never loses sight of the client’s broader commercial perspective.” “Tim is pragmatic and understands what is needed from senior counsel in terms of giving advice that can be fed to the board; he’s very much to the point and clear.” – Chambers UK and Chambers Global, 2020
Leading silk in Administrative and public law (including local government): ‘‘Technically able and an articulate advocate.’’ – Legal 500, 2020
Leading silk in Competition: ‘‘Extremely good with senior stakeholders.’’– Legal 500, 2020
Leading silk in EU Law: ‘‘Extremely good with senior stakeholders and always practical in his advice.’’ – Legal 500. 2020
Leading silk in Telecoms (regulatory): ‘‘Combined strength in public law and telecoms cases.’’ – Legal 500. 2020
“Thorough, knowledgeable and highly personable” advocate who excels on cartel, damages and judicial review proceedings” – Competition, Who’s Who Legal UK Bar 2019
Administrative & Public Law: “He is easy to work with; his advocacy is very clear and he has good judgement. He gets on well with clients.” “Direct, sensible, and a good team player who treats the team he’s working with as his intellectual equals. He’s shrewd and capable.” – Chambers UK, 2019
Competition Law: “He gets down to the nub of the case very quickly, giving clear and concise advice, and communicating in a clear and simple way. His advocacy is also excellent.” – Chambers UK and Chambers Global, 2019
European Law: “The top EU lawyer in the set.” – Chambers UK, 2019
Telecommunications: “Really smart, level-headed and pragmatic. He is down to earth and his advice is always very much grounded in practical considerations.” “He immediately spots good points and he works in a very user-friendly manner.” “From a client perspective he’s just fantastic.” – Chambers UK, 2019
Leading silk in Administrative and public law (including local government): ‘‘He is fantastic, a persuasive advocate, and connects easily and effectively with clients.’’ – Legal 500, 2018
Leading silk in Competition: ‘‘The best competition silk in the business; always responsive, on top of the detail and extremely user friendly – a fantastic team player.’’– Legal 500, 2018
Leading silk in EU Law: ‘‘Fantastic – clever, hard-working and not afraid to get his hands dirty digging into the detail.’’ – Legal 500. 2018
Leading silk in Telecoms (regulatory): ‘‘He is a persuasive advocate and connects easily and effectively with clients.’’ – Legal 500. 2018
Administrative & Public Law: “A really good advocate, good with clients and really knows the law.” “He has excellent judgement and is a great team player.” – Chambers UK, 2018
Competition Law: “He offers a good balance of analytical and commercial skills, and has a clear and economical advocacy style.” – Chambers UK, 2018
European Law: “Ward is very down-to-earth, straightforward and the court trusts him.” – Chambers UK, 2018
Telecommunications: “Has tremendous sector knowledge.” “He is really great to work with, highly approachable and very enthusiastic about cases.” – Chambers UK, 2018
BA, MA
Tim was awarded ‘Barrister of the Year’ at The Lawyer Awards 2013.
Professional Memberships
Tim was elected as Chairman of the Bar European Group, 2013-2015.
His publications include three books: Competition Litigation in the UK (with Kassie Smith, Sweet & Maxwell 2005), Judicial Review and the Human Rights Act (2000) and The Strasbourg Case Law – Leading Cases from the European Human Rights Reports (2001). He is the founder of and Consultant Editor of the Human Rights Law Reports – UK Cases (Sweet & Maxwell) and Contributor to The European Union Law of Competition (Bellamy & Child).
