ANNELI HOWARD

MA (Oxon) 1994 - First class; BCL (Oxon) 1995
CALL DATE: 2002 (Solicitor) 1999

SUMMARY

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Tenant at Monckton Chambers since 2003
Référendaire at the European Court of Justice 2000 - 2003
Solicitor with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 1996-2000
Member of the Attorney General's 'B' Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown
Registered under the Bar Council Public Access Scheme
Fluent in French and Italian, some Spanish and German

BACKGROUND

Anneli's previous experience as an associate in EU/Competition Litigation at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Référendaire to Judge David Edward at the European Court of Justice stands her in good stead for crossing the public/private divide in all areas of EU law. She has well-honed commercial and strategic “nouse”, critical legal thinking in complex regulatory matters and an acute awareness of the likely public interest “take”. Importantly she understands what clients want and delivers promptly as part of a team.

MAJOR CASES

Domestic cases

R v George and others: Acting for the OFT in the criminal prosecution of executives in the air freight sector.
UV v Nominet (2009): Action against the UK domain registry for abuse of dominant position and anti-competitive refusal to register.
PLUS Markets v London Stock Exchange (2009): Acting for the London Stock Exchange in a challenge to the AIM trade reporting rules under dominance and free movement.
Diageo v Intercontinental Brands (2009): successfully resisting competition law defence in a passing off and intellectual property law claim
BT v Ofcom (2008): Acting for BT in its appeal against Ofcom's determination into disputes regarding mobile call termination rates.
Orange v Ofcom (2008): Acting for BT in its intervention in the appeal brought by Orange v Ofcom.
Floe v Ofcom (2006-8): Successfully defended Ofcom's non-infringement decision on Article 82 /Chapter II in the telecoms sector and subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Visa (2005-6): Acting for Visa Europe in the OFT and EC Commission investigations and sector inquiry into credit card interchange fees.
Allsports, JJB, MU and Umbro v OFT (2004-2006): Successfully defended the OFT in the Replica Football Kit price fixing appeals before the CAT and the CA.

EC cases

Visa v Commission: Acting for Visa in the appeal against the Commission's Article 81 infringement decision regarding the non-admission of Morgan Stanley
Acting for Visa Europe in the EC Commission sector inquiry into retail banking and payment cards
Acting for Visa Europe in the investigation into cross-border interchange fees in consumer and commercial credit cards COMP/34.579; 36.518 and 38.580
Betfair C-203/08: Advising Betfair on the terms of reference from the Dutch Council of State
Kanal 5 Limited C-52/07 - Acting for the UK Government in Swedish reference concerning the application of Article 82 EC in the TV broadcasting sector
Glaxosmithkline C-462/06 - Acting for UK Government in reference under the Brussels I Regulation in employment matters
Nynas Petroleum a.o. v Commission T-347/06: Challenging the Commission's infringement decision and penalty in the Dutch Bitumen Cartel.

COMPETITION LAW

Anneli advises both commercial clients and regulators on a wide range of domestic and EC antitrust, competition and regulatory issues, including abuse of dominant position, cartel investigations, distribution agreements and state aid. She has in depth familiarity with UK and EC competition law practice and procedure from the assistance she has provided to regulators in preparing statement of objections, from defending accused companies and from her contributions to Bellamy & Child and Competition Litigation in the UK. She is co-editor of UK Competition Procedure: the Modernised Regime. Leading cases include LSE v PLUS, Replica Football Kits, Courage v Crehan (HL), E.ON v EWS, Brannigan and Tobacco.

She regularly advises companies on self-assessment issues relating to their commercial agreements and trading practices and implements compliance training on domestic and Community competition law. She has acted for complainants, whistleblowers, leniency applicants and companies that are accused of infringements before the OFT and the EC Commission. She has also represented appellants and interveners in appeals against decisions in the CAT, the Commercial Court and the European Courts.

Financial services

Anneli acted for the London Stock Exchange in its defence of the Aim trading rules under EC competition law and the free movement provisions. She is currently acting for Visa Europe in its appeal before the CFI against the infringement and fine imposed by the EC Commission for Visa's refusal to admit Morgan Stanley to its card payment system. She also helped to defend Visa's position in the appeal on domestic interchange rates in MasterCard Members Forum and Visa v OFT and against the EC Commission on cross- border interchange. She also acted for Visa in the EC Commission's sector inquiry into retail banking.

Construction

Anneli is currently acting for companies accused of bid rigging in the construction industry and is appealing the EC Commission decision on price fixing in the Dutch bitumen cartel.

Transport

Anneli acted for the ORR in its investigation of EWS' abuse of dominant position in the rail freight market which led to an admission of liability. She represented the ORR in subsequent proceedings brought by E.ON before the Commercial Court, the CAT and the CA as to the effect of the infringement on its contractual relationship with EWS.

Anneli also advises the ORR in rail transport disputes concerning the Network Code.

Manufacturing, retail and distribution

Anneli was junior counsel for the OFT in its successful defence of the appeals brought by Allsports, JJB, Manchester United and Umbro before the CAT and the Court of Appeal against the Chapter I infringement decision imposing fines on manufacturers and retailers for price fixing Replica Football Kit. This was the first full appeal of a cartel infringement decision, involving extensive witness evidence and cross examination. She successfully resisted a claim against Diageo in respect of vodka sales. She also acts for the OFT in its cartel investigations against supermarkets and retailers (Tobacco) and in the airline fares case.

Anneli is currently advising companies and regulators in other cartel and abuse of dominance investigations in the manufacturing and retail sectors.

CONSUMER LAW

Anneli acts for the OFT, advising on the implementation and application of the Unfair Terms Directive and the Consumer Protection Regulations . She is currently defending the OFT's Determination against a supplier of burglar alarms under the remote selling arrangements. This is the first major appeal of this kind before the new Consumer Credit Appeal Tribunal.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY LAW

From September 2000 to January 2003, Anneli was Référendaire (Legal Secretary) to Judge David Edward at the European Court of Justice. She oversaw a wide range of preliminary references, appeals and infringement actions on diverse matters, including competition law, state aid, the fundamental freedoms, citizenship, fundamental rights, social security, tax, environmental law, trade marks, WTO, Brussels and Rome Regulation, procedural issues, institutional powers, validity of Community acts, agricultural and fisheries policy.

Anneli advises private parties and governmental bodies on the application of EC law and the consistency of UK legislation with Community law. She has advocated on behalf of several parties at hearings before the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice, challenging Commission decisions or Community legislation. She also acts for the UK Government in preliminary references.

Notable cases include:

Kanal 5 Limited Case C-52/07 - Acting for the UK Government in Swedish reference concerning the application of Article 82 EC in the TV broadcasting sector
Glaxosmithkline Case C-462/06 - Acting for UK Government in reference under the Brussels I Regulation in employment matters
Nynas Petroleum a.o. v Commission Case T-347/06: Appeal against the Commission decision in the Dutch Bitumen Cartel
Alliance for Natural Health and Nutrilink v European Commission Case C-154/04 - challenging the food supplements directive
Commission v United Kingdom Case C-199/04 - Acting for the EC Commission challenging the UK's compliance with the EIA Directive when burning substitute fuels in cement kilns
Spaform v OHMI - defending an OHMI trademark decision from challenge
Milk Marque and NFU v MMC - reference to the ECJ on competition and free movement issues

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Anneli oversaw a wide range of human rights issues at the European Court of Justice, including claims concerning Article 6 procedural rights, privacy, non-discrimination, freedom of expression and effective remedies. She has assisted as junior in drafting applications and pleadings in cases before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and in advising governmental bodies on their public sector obligations under the HRA in the UK.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW

Anneli acts for telecoms companies and Ofcom in regulatory disputes and consultations, CAT appeals and private litigation. She also advises on wider media issues and state aid.

Notable cases include:

VIP v Ofcom : Acting as lead counsel for Ofcom in a telecoms appeal before the CAT under Art 82/Chapt II regarding the legitimacy of GSM Gateways
VIP and other v Ofcom and BIZ: Junior Counsel for Ofcom defending claim for Francovich damages
H3G v Ofcom (2008): Acting for BT in its intervention in the appeal by H3G against the CAT's findings on non-pricing issues in the mobile call termination dispute.
BT v Ofcom (2007): Successfully advised BT in its appeal against Ofcom's determination into disputes regarding mobile call termination rates.
Orange v Ofcom (ongoing): Represented BT in its intervention in an appeal against Ofcom's jurisdiction over telecoms disputes.
Acting for Nokia on competition law issues raised in US patent infringement litigation against Qualcomm
Rapture v Ofcom: represented Ofcom in a dispute regarding Sky's EPG listing and set-top boxes.
Floe v Ofcom - Successfully defended Ofcom in an appeal against a non infringement decision and a challenge regarding the compatibility of the decision with the EC telecoms directives. Now on appeal to the CA.
VIP v Ofcom - Appeal concerning the legality of GSM gateways under the EC and UK telecommunications legislation and objective justification under Article 82 EC/ the Chapter II prohibition.

PUBLICATIONS, TEACHING AND LECTURES

Anneli regularly speaks at conferences organised by IBC, Sweet & Maxwell, Justis, ERA, UAE and Central Law Training on issues of competition law, EU law and human rights. She regularly helps solicitors with in-house and client training seminars. She assists in teaching the Nottingham Law School LLM course in Advanced Litigation and was supervisor in EU law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University in 2004-2005.

Consultant Editor of O'Neill and Sanders "UK Competition Procedure - the Modernised Regime" (OUP 2007). Please click here to view the news item.
Contributor to Chapter 14 of Bellamy & Child "European Community Law of Competition" on (OUP 2007)
Contributor to Ward and Smith "Competition Litigation in the UK" (Sweet & Maxwell 2005)
Co-Author of Lasok, Millet and Howard on Judicial Control in the EU (Richmond 2004)
Contributor to Vaughan "Law of the European Communities" (2004)

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS

Open Academic Scholar at St Edmund Hall, Oxford 1992 - 1994
British Academy Scholar 1994-1995
Winter Williams Prize - highly recommended 1993
Two Half Blues and Captain of Oxford University Gymnastics Team 1992-1993
Overall European Winner of the European Final for Freshfields/Financial Times Best Business Law Student in Europe 1995
Legal Practice Course 1996 - Distinction
King's College Postgraduate Diploma in EC Law 2000 - 1st place
Fluent in French and Italian, some Spanish and German.