Shepherd and Wedderburn has announced sponsorship the Strathclyde Centre for Antitrust Law and Empirical Study (SCALES), to be officially launched next month.

Primary focus

SCALES, a University of Strathclyde Law School initiative, will focus primarily on competition/antitrust law and policy and how it is enforced, in particular in the context of its impact on modern technological sectors. As an example, the centre will consider the competition law and policy impacts of network platforms and big data, such as Google. Academics based at the University of Strathclyde Law School, with assistance from experts in other disciplines, will research the practical and policy aspects of enforcement, such as the required co-ordination by enforcement authorities to tackle anti-competitive issues and the impact on consumers, using collaborative and comparative research, particularly in relation to the EU and China. The centre, led by leading competition law academic Professor Barry Rodger, will have its official launch on 22 October 2019. The new website has already launced, nd can be found here.

Global debate

Shepherd and Wedderburn is sponsoring the SCALES launch event, which will hear from keynote speakers Professor Richard Whish QC (Hon), emeritus professor of law at King’s College London and co-author of Competition Law 8th Edition, and, Dr Or Brook, a lecturer in Competition Law at the University of Leeds. John Grady, a partner in Shepherd and Wedderburn’s competition law group, who will also be speaking at the launch event, said “One of the most exciting elements of SCALES is the opportunity it will provide for discussion between the academic, regulatory, business and legal community in Scotland and internationally.” He added, “As part of our support, we look forward to attending the various roundtables and other events that SCALES will hold during its first year.” Attendance at the launch event can be done here.