Alexander Waksman

Expertise

Alexander acts for companies in antitrust proceedings before courts, competition authorities and sectoral regulators in the UK, the European Union, and other jurisdictions. He has extensive experience in behavioural cases, merger control reviews, market studies and investigations, competition litigation, and complex compliance matters.

His practice is unusually versatile. He acts for complainants, defendants, and interested parties; his clients range from the largest companies in the world through to SMEs and professional associations; and, alongside traditional antitrust work, he assists clients on law reform and policy advocacy. He has particular expertise in emerging regulatory regimes for digital platforms.

Alexander is recognised as an authority in the field. He co-authored a comprehensive textbook on UK competition law (‘UK Competition Regime: A Practitioner’s Guide’, published by Sweet & Maxwell in September 2021). He was named a ‘future leader’ in Who’s Who Legal 2021 and was shortlisted as a ‘rising star’ of private practice at the British Legal Awards 2019. Since 2019, he has been a board member and editorial writer for the European Competition Law Review.

He holds a BA in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford and a Master’s degree in Law and Economics from the universities of Hamburg, Bologna, and Haifa. Alexander has published more than a dozen articles in leading law journals and has delivered talks at trade association meetings, competition law conferences and university seminars.

Alexander Advises

• Technology providers and digital platforms
• Financial services and payments companies
• International airlines
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Global manufacturers
• Companies operating in regulated sectors
• Entertainment and media companies
• Professional associations and institutes

Experience Highlights

• Acting for a party in the CMA’s market investigation into mobile radio network services
• Representing a streaming platform in the CMA’s market study of music and streaming services
• Representing parties in the CMA’s market studies of digital advertising and mobile ecosystems
• Advising a defendant in two standalone abuse of dominance claims before the Competition Appeal Tribunal
• Defending Merck in the CMA’s investigation into the pricing of its Remicade medication
• Advising a party in a European Commission investigation in the payments sector
• Acting for Google in the European Commission’s Android investigation and subsequent appeal to the General Court
• Advising Castle Water on merger control aspects of its acquisition of Affinity Water’s retail business
• Advising Tempur Sealy on merger control aspects of its acquisition of Dreams
• Representing a major international airline on merger control aspects of its minority investments
• Acting for a complainant in Ofwat’s antitrust and regulatory investigations into Thames Water
• Advising digital service providers regarding the EU Digital Markets Act and forthcoming UK regime for platforms with ‘strategic market status’

Career History

Previous Law firms

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (Brussels & London)
• Herbert Smith Freehills LLP (London & Hong Kong)

Memberships

• Board member and editorial writer, European Competition Law Review

Education

• Legal Practice Course, BPP Law School
• European Master’s in Law and Economics, Distinction, awarded by University of Hamburg (LLM), University of Bologna (MA Economics), and University of Haifa (LLM)
• BA (Oxon) in Jurisprudence, First Class Honours, St Anne’s College

Other

• Named as a ‘Future Leader (Partners)’ in Who’s Who Legal — Competition 2022
• Named as a ‘Future Leader (Non-Partners)’ in Who’s Who Legal — Competition 2021
• Two articles shortlisted for the 2020 Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards
• Shortlisted, Rising Star — Private Practice, 2019 Legal Week British Legal Awards
• Ruth Deech Law Prize and Exhibition, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford
• Pro bono work including death row appeals to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights and assisting a charity, 28TooMany, with drafting a model law challenging female genital mutilation

Publications

• UK Competition Regime: A Practitioner’s Guide (Sweet & Maxwell 2021)
• ‘Lessons for Antitrust from Computer Programming’ (2021) (Brexit Special Edition) European Competition Law Review
• ‘Editorials’ [2019–21] European Competition Law Review
• ‘Applying Economics to the Internet: Can Regulators and Competition Authorities Keep Pace?’ (2019) SSRN Research Paper
• ‘Global Merger Control — Where to Now?’ (2020) 8(2) Journal of Antitrust Enforcement 319–34
• ‘Ensuring Innovation Through Participative Antitrust’ (2020) 8(1) Journal of Antitrust Enforcement 30–55
• ‘Multi-Sided Platforms: Three Questions for Antitrust’ [2019] European Competition Law Review (available on Westlaw)
• ‘Where Angels Fear to Trade: Algorithms and Antitrust’ [2019] Financier Worldwide
• ‘A Missed Opportunity: AKKA/LAA v Competition Council’ [2018] European Competition Law Review
• ‘Bad Science: Abuse and Effects in Online Markets’ [2017] Competition Policy International
• ‘The European Commission’s E-commerce Sector Inquiry: from Market Power to Marketplace Power? [2017] Competition Law Journal
• ‘GCR Guide to Unilateral Conduct; Introduction and EU Chapters’ [2017] Global Competition Review
• ‘Competition Compliance — UK Chapter’ [2017] Getting the Deal Through
• ‘Dominance — Overview and UK Chapters’ [2017] Getting the Deal Through
• ‘The Benefit of Hindsight: a Comparison of Individual Exemption under EU and Hong Kong Competition Law’ (2016) 37(10) European Competition Law Review 422–26
• ‘A Comparative Assessment of the EU’s Reforms to Merger Control and Antitrust Enforcement’ (2015) 11(2–3) European Competition Journal 426–64
• ‘The Loss of Innocence: Revisions to the FCA Handbook and Their Implications for Leniency and Self-Incrimination’ (2015) 36(5) European Competition Law Review (available on Westlaw)
• ‘Behavioural Economics and Market Studies: a Call for Restraint’ (2015) 14(1) Competition Law Journal
• ‘The Accuracy of Witness Testimony and the Psychology of Investigations’ [2014] Asian-Mena Counsel
• ‘Clientless Actions: a Semi-Private Approach to the Enforcement of EU Competition Law’ [2012] European Review of Law and Economics
• ‘Corruption and Effort Among Political Agents: Analysing Incentives and Evidence from the UK and Italy’ [2012] Polish Yearbook of Law and Economics

Selected Speaking Engagements

• A Hollywood film about Crypto? Not yet but this could be the inspiration, CryptoCast, August 2022…
• Merger Control & Telecoms in Europe: Reasons for Optimism?, Presentation to telecoms investors hosted by a leading investment bank, December 2021
• Competition Law Enforcement in India – The Past, The Present, and The Future, Panel on Digital Markets, Conference hosted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, October 2022