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Hot on the heels of its first decision under the new collective proceedings regime, the Competition Appeal Tribunal has just handed down judgment following the first trial held under the “fast-track” procedure introduced as part of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2015: Socrates Training Limited –v- The Law Society of England and Wales [2017] CAT 10. Whereas, in 399 BC, the City of Athens found the philosopher guilty of “failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges”, the Tribunal in this case held that the Law Society had, for part of the period covered by the claim, offended against the twin deities of UK competition law -the Chapter I and Chapter II prohibitions – by requiring law firms to purchase certain training courses exclusively from the Law Society, as a condition of membership of an accreditation scheme.
The Judgment will be of interest to all competition law practitioners, but especially to those advising SMEs. And not a hemlock in sight…
Please click here view the full case note.
Socrates was represented by Philip Woolfe and The Law Society was represented by Kassie Smith QC and Imogen Proud.