Competition and Market Regulation
Current practice
Chris joined Freehills in 2002 after extensive experience in government and private practice, including both in law firms and the Victorian Bar.Whilst at the Bar, Chris quickly established a reputation for his expertise in competition and regulatory law and has acted for both major private interest and government clients.
Chris has a particular interest and expertise in energy industries and in the area of telecommunications regulation.
Industry experience
Chris worked in the competition and regulatory area for over ten years in a major commercial law firm and as a senior public servant in Canberra, working in the Trade Practices Unit of the Australian Government Solicitor and for the Trade Practices Commission (the predecessor body to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission).During the course of his practice he has advised on the construction and application of specific provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 including the assessment of merger applications before the Commission and applications for authorisation of collaborative arrangements.
During his years at the Bar, Chris continued a specialist focus on competition law, acting for clients in a range of different matters, including:
- acting for the Commission in numerous matters concerning alleged anticompetitive and unconscionable conduct;
- acting for Primus Telecommunications in the Australian Competition Tribunal arbitration of the PSTN access dispute;
- acting for NAB in proceedings alleging price fixing in respect of credit card interchange fees;
- acting for a petrol distributor/retailer in proceedings brought by the Commission alleging price fixing in the Ballarat petrol market;
- acting for an access seeker in Australian Competition Tribunal proceedings concerning the rail access regime in Victoria.
