Practice Area/Department Competition PQE Level 2-5 PQE Description
Travers Smith is a leading full-service law firm, with a wealth of experience in its areas of specialisation. The firm has a market-leading reputation for its international expertise in Asset Management, M&A and Dispute Resolution & Investigations. Clients include asset managers across the alternative asset classes (private equity, venture, credit, infrastructure and real estate), publicly listed and private companies, financial institutions, and other business enterprises involved in large and complex UK and cross-border matters, transactions and disputes. Our purpose is to provide the highest quality of service to our clients whilst enabling our people to achieve professional fulfilment in a supportive, inclusive and enjoyable working environment.
Department
The Competition team at Travers Smith is highly experienced and offers the full spectrum of services in EU, UK and international competition law. The advice we provide is underpinned by commercial insight into our clients' sectors and objectives, and a focus on clear communication.
Our Competition team provides a full range of services, including notably:
1. Transactional - including advice on merger control, foreign direct investment and foreign subsidies regulations in connection with either M&A activity or other corporate transactions.
2. Investigations and disputes - including public and private enforcement matters.
3. Complex advisory work - covering the entire range of EU and UK competition law issues, including anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance matters.
It is core to our identity as a practice that we provide transactional, contentious, and complex advisory work in one combined offering for clients.
We aim to be first-rate subject matter experts, able to deliver commercially minded and pragmatic advice - we excel at translating complex issues into digestible content with practical and commercial solutions.
The Role
To support the continued growth of the practice, we are currently recruiting an Associate (2-5 PQE) to join the Competition Department on a permanent basis.
This role is an opportunity for the successful candidate to be part of a high-performance environment, in which they will be able to gain experience by taking on a diverse spread of work and significant responsibility on client matters, while working in a collaborative environment.
The successful candidate will also be able to build their expertise and knowledge base through participating in a culture in which Learning & Development is prioritised; and build their own and the Department's brand and reputation in the market, through active involvement in a range of business development activities.
Key Responsibilities
We expect that a Competition Associate will gain experience across the full range of matters that make up the Department's practice.
Typical work will therefore include the following:
Transactional
4. Advising on UK and EU merger control investigations and coordinating international merger control strategies.
5. Advising on the UK National Security & Investment Act and coordinating international foreign direct investment strategies, alongside advising on the application of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation and related legislation.
6. Supporting the firm's Corporate Departments in relation to other competition law, merger control, national security and foreign investment matters arising on their transactions and client work.
Investigations and Disputes
7. Advising clients involved directly in UK and EU cartel and other investigations in relation to alleged anticompetitive conduct.
8. Coordinating international competition investigation matters.
9. Advising clients involved as interested third parties in cartel investigations and a wide range of other competition and market investigations.
10. Acting for clients in connection with follow-on and standalone competition damages litigation before the English courts.
Advisory
11. Supporting clients with a wide range of competition law advice in relation to anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance matters, and other associated areas of economic regulation, including technology regulation (via the EU Digital Markets Act and the UK DMCC Act), public procurement, state aid / subsidy control and utilities regulation.
Personal Specification - Experience, Knowledge & Skills
The candidate will be required to demonstrate the following skills and attributes:
12. Strong technical competence in advising on Competition law matters;
13. Strong verbal and written communication skills;
14. An ability to be proactive, to plan work strategically with a view to prioritising key tasks, and to manage time;
15. A curious and entrepreneurial mind-set, identifying opportunities to improve and innovate in our delivery of work for clients as well as build relationships with existing and new clients; and
16. A collaborative attitude, operating as a "team player" and working effectively as part of a wider team.
We are excited to be moving from our London headquarters in Snow Hill, to a brand-new building in the City - Stonecutter Court. The move is expected to take place in early 2026.
Diversity & Inclusion statement: We value and celebrate the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of every individual including differences in gender, ethnicity, disability, faith, and more. We're committed to building an inclusive workplace that reflects the diversity of our clients and communities, where everyone feels empowered, respected, and heard. We actively partner with organisations and networks that champion equality and fairness, ensuring our policies and practices uphold these values.
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Support and Adjustments for candidates: We are committed to ensuring that people who are disabled or have a long-term condition are empowered in their identity, valued equally, and listened to. If we can adjust the recruitment process to make it more accessible, please let us know. For further information please visit our website: