Bennett Jones has been ranked as Highly Recommended in Global Competition Review’s 2019 edition of the GCR 100. This comprehensive listing of top competition practices provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the law firms and economic consultancies doing the most important antitrust work around the world.
Bennett Jones’ renowned competition group is spearheaded by Randal Hughes and former competition commissioner Melanie Aitken, who run a well-rounded practice strong in mergers, behavioural matters and competition litigation. Aitken is posted in Washington, DC, which the team says makes Bennett Jones the only Canadian competition group to have someone in the US capital. In March 2018, Emrys Davis was promoted to partner. He and partners John F Rook QC and Andrew Little were counsel to the Competition Bureau in fighting off the Toronto Real Estate Board’s appeals against the agency’s decision that the board illegally restricted access to its data. Davis also assisted Hughes in counselling Macmillan in the E-Books case.
In other litigation matters, partners Michael Eizenga and Ranjan Agarwal defended Brewers Retail in a class action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice where consumers allege that the brewer engaged in anticompetitive conduct in the sale of beer. The summary judgment ruling dismissing the claim is under appeal. Bennett Jones acted as lead counsel in complex appeals in the lithium ion batteries and optical disk drive class actions and successfully sought leave to the Supreme Court of Canada in June 2018. It also represented Bank of America in the anti-steering settlement. On the deals side, the firm acted for Time Warner on its acquisition by AT&T; Canadian Natural Resources Limited in acquiring 70% working interest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project; and Parkland Fuel in buying Chevron Canada’s downstream fuel business in British Columbia and Alberta.
