Claire Simpson: a career in Competition Law from multiple angles

imagine.

It's very interesting.

And that leads us perfectly into the next question, which is, you with your experience having advised businesses, worked at an authority company, having litigated before the courts and even worked a bit at the court.

What have you learned from seeing competition law from these different perspectives? And how have these experiences shaped you professionally, mainly as a lawyer? But obviously, if it has also influenced you in a personal way, that would be interesting.

I would be very happy to hear.

Well, I think that actually it might seem a bit strange to say, but I think that the different perspectives make you a bit more humble in some ways in the sense that you see that people, you really have brilliant people everywhere, you know, so don't judge, don't prejudge, you know, people.

You might just be, you know, you might just be surprised.

And also I think it gives you a certain degree of empathy, right? In the sense that, you know, you really understand the frustrations that somebody might be facing in the regulator in terms of resources or time or even money.

Or in-house, again, through time constraint, and you might also see money.

But, you know, it does give you that different perspective.

Now, of course, we've all got good imaginations, right? So you can imagine yourself in the other person's shoes.

But I think it does really help when you've been there or at least you've been in similar shoes at a certain point in time.

And I think it just makes you, it certainly enhances, maybe not quite the right word, but it definitely helps you to try to think of what might be in the other person's mind, you know, if you're in a discussion or a negotiation situation.

and to sort of adapt a bit your explanation accordingly or what you're asking for.

It's really interesting listening to that, always to talk with someone with a multifaceted experience and your career has not been confined at all simply to competition law.

So when having worked across a wide range of areas in EU and EEA law, How would you say that that broader transversal experience has shaped your approach to competition law and to litigation? And do you think that there's a value actually in this wider exposure that competition practitioners or specialized lawyers sometimes miss?

Well, I mean, I think, yes, you know, there is a value in that.

Of course, you might say, well, of course, I'm going to say yes, right? I'm not going to say, well, no.

But I mean, you know, there are always pros and cons.

You know, sometimes you need a super uber duper specialist, you know, who sort of breathes this area of law.

You know, some people in certain parts of financial services, you know, that's really all they do.

And sometimes you really need that.

But I think in many circumstances, it is good to have somebody with a bit of a broader background, either because of areas of law or just, you know, it can be age or other types of life experience.

And certainly in competition cases, I mean, as we said a minute ago, they cover a wide range of sectors, right? So already you sort of seen from different angles, right? those sectors and competition law you know it's not law in a vacuum right it's really you know it's competition it's commerce it's

you know