Private Enforcement of Competition Law

The Interna tiona l Compa ra tive Lega l Guide to: Competition Litiga tion 2010 A pra ctica l insight to cross- border Competition Litiga tion Published by Globa l Lega l Group with contributions from: ACCURA Eugene F. Collins Pa chiu & Associa tes Alston & Bird LLP Freshfields Bruckha us Deringer LLP Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn N.V. Andrékó Kinstella r Ügyvédi Iroda Gernandt & Danielsson Advokatbyrå KB Sérvulo & Associados ARN TZEN de BESCHE Advoka tfirma AS Gia nni, Origoni, Grippo & Pa rtners Shin & Kim v Ashurst LLP Kronbergs & Cukste SJ Berwin LLP Ba rnert Egerma nn Illiga sch Lepik & Luha ä ä r LAWIN TGC Corpora te La wyers Bruchou, Fernández Madero & Lombardi Lideika, Petrauskas, Valiunas ir partneriai LAWIN Va sil Kisil & Pa rtners Ca ssels Brock & Bla ckwell LLP Linkla ters Vrá na & Peliká n, a dvoká tní ka ncelá r Cechová & Pa rtners Lovells LLP Wa lder Wyss & Pa rtners Ltd. Dittma r & Indrenius Ma cla y Murra y & Spens LLP Webber Wentzel Elvinger Hoss & Prussen Müggenburg, Gorches, Peñalosa y Sepúlveda, S.C. YUST La w Firm v v www.ICLG.co.uk Chapter 2 5 Portugal M iguel Gorjão-Henriques Sérvulo & Associados, Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. 1 General 1 .1 Please identify the scope of claims that may be brought in Portugal for breach of competition law. In Portugal, the law recognises the right of any person to seek preliminary injunctions, damages or any suitable claim against any behaviour in breach of the Law, including the Competition Law approved by Law Nr. 18/2003 of 11 June (herein after “CL”). The negative judgment made by Nuno Ruiz to the Portuguese FIDE report of 1998, according to which a violation of the then CL (DL 371/93) did not confer a subjective right and was no base for a claim of civil liability, seems to have been overturned. Courts no longer would uphold this conception, being applicable the general principles governing contractual or tort liability and the well-known ECJ case-law. Concorrência, herein after “NCA”) decisions. For the latter, see question 9.1. For private litigation there is no specialised court and any judicial court of any judicial local circumscriptions (“comarca”) may be competent. Law Nr. 52/2008 of 28 August on the Organisation and Functioning of the Judicial Courts (Lei da Organização e Funcionamento dos Tribunais Judiciais) approved the Judiciary Reform, which will gradually establish a judiciary decentralised system, enabling the Government to create, by decree-law, in the local courts (“comarca”) “Juízos de Comércio” (Commerce Panels), which will be competent to decide appeals from decisions of the NCA in Competition Law cases. 1 .5 However, actions for damages caused by the infringement of competition rules are still very uncommon. 1 .2 What is the legal basis for bringing an action for breach of competition law? There is no specific-competition statutory basis. The legal basis derives both from articles 81 and 82 and all EC regulations or from the breached CL provisions, since in Portugal the CL may be infringed even if the conduct is also in breach of EC law. The courts will apply the rules on tort liability set out in articles 483 et seq. and 562 et seq. of the Portuguese Civil Code (herein after “CC”). The claimant must prove the existence of an injury, the defendant’s fault, the damages suffered and the link between the injury and the damages. Also, the illegal use of IP rights or the violation of unfair competition rules in the Portuguese IP Code may be the basis for a damages claim. 1 .3 Is the legal basis for competition law claims derived from international, national or regional law? The legal basis differs depending on which competition law is violated, the national CL or EC Law. 1 .4 Are there specialist courts in Portugal to which competition law cases are assigned? One must distinguish between private litigation and the judicial control of the Competition Authority’s (Autoridade da Stéphanie Roux Who has standing to bring an action for breach of competition law and what are the available mechanisms for multiple claimants? For instance, is there a possibility of collective claims, class actions, actions by representative bodies or any other form of public interest litigation? Any legal or natural person who suffered damages in consequence of an unlawful act (or failure to act) has standing. With respect to collective claims, Law Nr. 83/95 allows any citizens and associations/foundations protecting general interests to bring what might be considered, although with some differences, as “class actions” (acção popular or acção para a tutela de interesses difusos) and claim compensation when there is a violation of diffuse interests such as public health, environment, quality of life, protection of consumer products or services, cultural heritage and public domain (see also article 52 of the Portuguese Constitution and article 26-A of the Portuguese Civil Procedure Code (“CPC”). The courts may decide to join several and different cases, even in different moments of the legal process (see articles 275 and 275-A CPC). 1 .6 What jurisdictional factors will determine whether a court is entitled to take on a competition law claim? The rules on competence are defined in the CPC and are the same that are applicable to any other damages action, in articles 61, 65 and 65-A (international competence), 66 or 67 (generic and specialised internal competence). If the action involves a legal or natural person established outside the Portuguese territory, EC Regulation Nr. 44/2001 or the old 1988 Lugano Convention will apply (until the entry into force of the new “Lugano convention” OJ, L 339, of 21.12.2007). 132 WWW.ICLG.CO.UK ICLG TO: COM PETITION LITIGATION 2 0 1 0 © Published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London Sérvulo & Associados, Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. Please note that the wording of articles 65 and 65-A considered for the purposes of this report is given by Law Nr. 52/2008, which arguably will enter into force in January 2nd 2009 only for the circumscriptions included in map II annexed to the Law. According to article 74 CPC, in cases of contractual liability, the action is brought before the court of the defendant’s place of residence (in some circumstances, the claimant may chose to file the action before the court of the place where the obligation should be performed); and in cases of extra contractual liability, the claim is brought before the court of the place where the infringement took place. 1 .7 Is the judicial process adversarial or inquisitorial? In competition litigation in judicial courts between private parties the process is adversarial. In appeals from NCA decisions, the judicial process is inquisitorial. 2 Interim Remedies 2 .1 Are interim remedies available in competition law cases? first is not possible, does not entirely repair the damages suffered or is excessively costly for the debtor). However, compensation will only be awarded if the following requirements are fulfilled: the existence of an illicit behaviour; proof of injury to the claimant; and the demonstration of a causal link between the unlawful conduct and the damage (see article 483 CC). Portugal Generally speaking, under articles 65 and 65-A CPC, Portuguese courts have international competence whenever it is imposed by EC or other international instruments and when, without prejudice to other EC/international rules: (a) the action may be lodged in a Portuguese court according to territorial competence rules valid in Portugal; or (b) the right claimed cannot be effectively enforced unless the action is brought in Portugal “or the claimant has an appreciable difficulty in instituting the proceedings abroad”, provided that there is a significant connexion, personal or real, between the subject matter of the dispute and the national legal order. Portugal Claims can also be brought to obtain a declaration of nullity of an agreement violating CL/EC Law. The declaration of nullity will determine the return of all that each party has provided to the other in the context of the invalid agreement, or the corresponding amount if such return is not possible (see article 289 CC). These provisions are applicable without prejudice to some bona fide (good faith) rules or the respect for some past de facto contractual relations. Other remedies may be the publication of the decisions. That is allowed by the misdemeanour regime and by article 45 CL, regarding NCA decisions. 3 .2 If damages are an available remedy, on what bases can a court determine the amount of the award? Are exemplary damages available? The monetary compensation corresponds to the difference between the actual patrimonial situation of the injured party and the patrimonial situation of such party if the infringement had not taken place. It includes the damages caused by the unlawful conduct and the benefits that the damaged party could not obtain due to the illicit action. When the plaintiff has contributed to the production or the worsening of the damages, the court may reduce the amount of indemnity, or even exclude it. Exemplary damages are not available. 3 .3 Are fines imposed by competition authorities taken into account by the court when calculating the award? Yes they are. 2 .2 What interim remedies are available and under what conditions will a court grant them? According to article 27 CL, the NCA may itself order ex officio (i.e. by its own motion) or under request of any interested party the immediate suspension of the conduct under appreciation or any other pre-emptive provisional measure considered necessary to ensure the maintenance of competition or the effet utile of the final decision in the procedure. These interim measures may be granted if the conduct may “cause damage which is imminent, serious and irreparable or difficult to rectify for competition or for third party interests”. In private litigation in judicial courts, interim measures are allowed as in any other legal judicial procedure, if the general criteria, the fumus bonis iuris or the periculum in mora, that is the serious risk of irreparable damages and proportionality criteria are met. On January 2009, the NCA applied for the first time interim measures under article 27 CL (Press release 1/2009). The decision was eventually appealed. 3 Final Remedies 3 .1 Please identify the final remedies which may be available and describe in each case the tests which a court will apply in deciding whether to grant such a remedy. According to articles 562 and 566 CC, the forms of compensation available are natural restoration and monetary compensation (if the Not necessarily. There is no case law on this subject but fines imposed by the NCA or the Commission may not be taken into account, given the different nature and purposes of the regimes. ECJ case law could be considered, though. 4 Evidence 4 .1 What is the standard of proof? In competition litigation, the standard of proof required to establish the existence of an infringement to the competition rules, EC or national, is the same. In Portugal such procedures are ruled by some of the criminal procedure principles, under article 32(10) of the Constitution, including the “in dubio pro reo” or the “right to silence” principles, the latter being interpreted in a more liberal way than in ECJ case-law. The evidence supporting a claim in misdemeanour cases must not leave room for relevant “reasonable doubts”. This may raise some difficulties whenever the undertakings concerned claim the benefit of article 81(3) EC or of the correspondent article 5 CL. Indeed, the courts experience and the doctrine indicates that this principle must be extended to the socalled “legal absolving excuses”, like articles 81 (3) or 5 CL. As a result, and despite article 2 of EC Regulation 1/2003, Portuguese courts may make a narrow interpretation of this provision. If so, concerned undertakings may be acquitted should they succeed in persuading the judge that reasonable doubts subsist about the conditions laid down in article 81(3). So, in the misdemeanour cases, the NCA applies the criminal standard of proof since the ICLG TO: COM PETITION LITIGATION 2 0 1 0 © Published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London 133 WWW.ICLG.CO.UK Sérvulo & Associados, Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. Portugal general misdemeanour regime (Regime Geral das ContraOrdenações) is of subsidiary application. The Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa, in 7.7.2007 (case 7251-2007-3), decided that if the conduct fulfils the legal prohibition elements that suffices to consider the behaviour as illegal, unless the defendant presents justifying cause. It should be highlighted that the Court expressly considered the EC doctrine on the subject. There are no specific rules for private competition litigation, the general rules being applicable. 4 .2 Who bears the evidential burden of proof? In private litigation, the burden of proof lies with the claimant (see article 342 CC) and, in case of doubt, the judge will decide against the party who bears the burden of proof. This may not be the case in contractual liability litigation, since there is a presumption of fault of the debtor (see article 799 CC). 4 .3 Are there limitations on the forms of evidence which may be put forward by either side? Is expert evidence accepted by the courts? There are no general limitations to the forms of evidence admissible in competition law cases, as the existing restrictions seem to be inapplicable to competition litigation. concern that the production of such evidence may become impossible or very difficult (see articles 520/521 CPC). Furthermore, a party can request the court to order the other party or any other person/entity to present a document (see articles 528 and 531 CPC) and the court may do so by its own motion (see article 535 CPC). 4 .5 Can witnesses be forced to appear? To what extent, if any, is cross-examination of witnesses possible? When a witness is missing without justification, the judge will impose a fine and order its presentation before the court under custody [see article 629(4) CPC]. Witnesses may also be heard in the court of their place of residence, through video-conference (see article 623 CPC). The party presenting the witness indicates the facts that are to be testified by the witness and makes the questions (interrogatório). The judge is always allowed to ask questions (see article 638 CPC). The counter party’s lawyer is also entitled to question the witness, if the questions are in connection with the previous testimonial statements. Direct confrontation between witnesses may be requested to the court. 4 .6 Evidence must be submitted to a contradictory hearing of the party against whom it is presented (see article 517 CPC). Witnesses’ evidence is generally admitted, except when the proof needs to be written or when a fact has a full conclusive force (see article 393 CC). The number of witnesses allowed is limited per case [20] and per fact discussed [5]. Parties in the action cannot be witnesses (see articles 617, 632 and 633 CPC). Portugal Does an infringement decision by a national or international competition authority, or an authority from another country, have probative value as to liability and enable claimants to pursue follow-on claims for damages in the courts? No: the judge will freely appreciate it, according to his prudent belief. However, the existence of a prior infringement decision may facilitate the production of evidence in favour of the claimant. Confession can only cover personal facts or facts that the party ought to know, and cannot concern criminal facts or facts related to unavailable rights (see articles 354 CC and 554 CPC). If there has been a previous Commission decision regarding the conduct, the court cannot adopt any conflicting decision (see article 16 of Regulation 1/2003), having to accept the de facto assumptions of the decision and based on them it will decide on the damages. Expert evidence is accepted by the courts, but the expert is designated by the court (see articles 568 et seq. CPC). Other expert opinions may be delivered by the Parties, and the probative value of the answers is freely established by the court (see article 389 CC). 4 .7 4 .4 What are the rules on disclosure? What, if any, documents can be obtained: (i) before proceedings have begun; (ii) during proceedings from the other party; and (iii) from third parties (including competition authorities)? The access to administrative documents is ruled by Law Nr. 46/2007 of 24 August, also implementing EC Directive 2003/98 on the re-use of public sector documents. The law acknowledges a general right of access, although limited, for instance in nominative documents (related to particulars of a considered natural person). Regarding undertakings, the law allows the access to any concluded administrative procedures (the access can be differed by the Administration during no more than one year), but also recognises a right to have access even to company documents including commercial or industrial secrets or other internal company documents if the person shows “a sufficiently relevant and direct, personal and legitimate interest”. Nevertheless, a person may be held liable if the document is used for a different purpose than the one invoked to have access to this document. Anticipated production of evidence (testimonials, inspections, etc.) is possible, upon request, provided that there is a reasonable How would courts deal with issues of commercial confidentiality that may arise in competition proceedings? Courts are bound to the obligation of protecting commercial confidentiality. If there are doubts on whether information is confidential, e.g. commercial secrets, internal documentation, IP rights, the court may decide on the matter. Generally, the Parties in a court procedure must be granted full access to all the pieces and documents produced by the other party. Third parties may have limited access to the file but once the decision is delivered access to a copy of the court’s judgment must be granted. In administrative procedures, however, both the Supreme Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court, in several decisions, have decided that the access to the file may be limited if it is necessary to protect IP rights, commercial secrets or internal information of undertakings. However, any company should presume that the information produced before the court is fully available to the parties and may be used subsequently in other proceedings. The Commerce Court of Lisbon has recognised that the NCA may use for misdemeanor procedures information provided to her under its supervision and not contentious powers. However, the NCA is bound to protect the business secrets both in administrative or misdemeanour procedures [e.g. articles 18, 19, 26(5), or 30 CL; see also article 62 of the Administrative Procedural Code]. 134 WWW.ICLG.CO.UK ICLG TO: COM PETITION LITIGATION 2 0 1 0 © Published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London Sérvulo & Associados, Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. 7 Settlement 7 .1 Do parties require the permission of the court to discontinue breach of competition law claims (for example if a settlement is reached)? Portugal Commercial documentation disclosure to a court is also submitted to articles 534 CPC and 42/43 of the Commercial Code of 1888, in the wording given by Decree-Law Nr. 76-A/2006 and Decree-Law 8/2009. Portugal 5 Justification / Defences 5 .1 Is a defence of justification/public interest available? Two justifications present in the EC Treaty are reflected in the CL: for prohibited agreements or concerted practices [see articles 81(3) of the EC Treaty and 5 of the CL] and for undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest [see articles 86(2) of the EC Treaty and 3(2) of the CL]. It is possible that other public interest arguments be considered as relevant, such as those of the ECJ case law in Wouters or the need to protect the employment, etc. 5 .2 Is the “passing on defence” available and do indirect purchasers have legal standing to sue? Under the general rules of civil procedure, any judicial settlement “obtained by the judge” is subject to confirmation (homologação) by the court [article 300(4) CPC]. Generally, the author is free to withdraw (desistência), at any time, the action (instância) or the whole/part of the request (pedido), and the defendant is free to confess/admit the damages/violation of CL at any time. If the author decides to abandon the action after the defendant has already contested the author’s allegations, that depends on the defendant’s approval (article 296 CPC). In these cases, the discontinuation is declared by the court in form of decision (sentença). 8 Costs 8 .1 Yes. As the claimant can only recover the damages suffered as a result of the infringement, if it is proved that some of the damages were suffered by a third person, the court will not award the plaintiff the “passed on” damages. On the other hand, if the requirements for civil tort liability are met (see question 3.1), indirect claims are possible. 6 Timing 6 .1 Is there a limitation period for bringing a claim for breach of competition law, and if so how long is it and when does it start to run? Actions for damages must be brought within three years from the date the plaintiff acquired knowledge of the right to make a claim (article 498 CC). Requests for the declaration of nullity of an agreement can be brought at any time by any interested party and may be decided ex officio by the court (article 286 CC). Legal costs are initially borne by all the parties. However, at the end of the proceedings and if it has requested that the court, the “winning party” has the right to recover them from the “losing party” (in case of partial loss, the costs are divided proportionally among the parties). The fees of the lawyers are borne by each party, in principle (see articles 446 CPC, 33 and 33-A of the Code of Judicial Costs). From April 20th, 2009, under the new Regulation of the Procedural Costs (Decree-Law Nr. 34/2008, of 26 February - in the wording of the Budgetary Law for 2009 - Law 64-A/2008, of 31 December, article 156.º), in the end of the proceedings, the wining party has to send to the court and to the losing party a document containing the explanation and the justification of the costs (nota discriminativa e justificativa), in order to be reimbursed by the latter. This amount may include lawyers’ fees, within certain limits. This regimen is only applicable to new judicial procedures. 8 .2 6 .2 Broadly speaking, how long does a typical breach of competition law claim take to bring to trial and final judgment? Is it possible to expedite proceedings? There is no precise information and no way of accurately predicting the duration of a judicial process. Official statistics may be misleading for these purposes. Can the claimant/defendant recover its legal costs from the unsuccessful party? Are lawyers permitted to act on a contingency fee basis? The lawyers’ fees must correspond to an adequate financial compensation for the services provided, taking into account e.g. the importance of the services provided, the difficulty and the urgency of the issue, the intellectual creativity, the result, the time spent or the responsibility assumed. In private litigation in judicial courts the expected duration of the procedure would be two/three years, in the first instance. However, Abel Mateus, the former NCA Council President, declared in 12.10.2007 that the average duration is of four/five years. The Bar Association Law does not allow for fees to be exclusively dependent on the result or to be determined in a percentage of the achieved result. It is the so-called quota litis prohibition (article 101 Law Nr. 15/2005). So, contingency fees are not allowed. However, the same Law recognises the right of the lawyer and the client to previously define a fixed fee amount due for the services that are to be provided, and to agree in an increase of the fees if the result so merits. Preliminary relief is urgent and may be decided up to three/five weeks; otherwise it is not possible to accelerate the proceedings. 8 .3 Depending on the complexity, we would say that the adoption of a final judgment by the Commerce Court of Lisbon will probably take more than two years. Is third party funding of competition law claims permitted? There is no provision regarding such matter. From the law services, it is forbidden for lawyers to share their fees with third parties that did not cooperate in advising the Client. 135 ICLG TO: COM PETITION LITIGATION 2 0 1 0 © Published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London WWW.ICLG.CO.UK Sérvulo & Associados, Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. 9 Appeal 9 .1 Can decisions of the court be appealed? Portugal See questions 1.4 and 1.6 Appeals from NCA decisions applying a fine or other sanctions are generally made to the Commerce Court of Lisbon and from there to the Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa, which is the last instance and may only consider matters of law (see article 52 CL). Since the beginning of 2009, under the Judiciary Reform (Law Nr. 52/2008) two Juízos de Comércio in the pilot localcircumscriptions, based in Aveiro and Sintra, were already created (Decree-Law 25/2009, of January 26th), with competence to decide on the appeals from these NCA decisions. For now, we believe that the Commerce Court of Lisbon remains competent for other appeals in misdemeanour cases (see article 121, 4, of Law 52/2008). That also applies to administrative procedures (mainly mergers) under articles 54/55 CL, but then appealing to the Supreme Court of Justice remains possible, although limited to questions of law (if the original appeal is limited to questions of law, appeal per saltum is allowed). In mergers, a negative decision of the NCA may also be appealed to the Ministry of Economy. That occurred in just one case (Brisa/ AEO/ AEA) with success to the appellant. Except for some limited territorial judicial circumscriptions (not including Lisbon, itself), the Commerce Courts will only be converted into “Juízos de Comércio” (v. “Commerce Panel”) by September 1st 2010. By that time the new wording of articles 50, 52, 54 and 55 of the CL will also be applicable to the entire national territory. The changes merely intend to adapt the appeal rules in the CL to the future “Juízos de Comércio”. Portugal In civil matters, the “alçada” is fixed in € 5,000 (1st Instance courts) and € 30,000 (Relação), according to Law Nr. 3/99, as amended by Decree-Law Nr. 303/2007; see article 31 of Law Nr. 52/2008). Should any claim arise against the State or involve the rights and legally protected interests of individuals based on administrative law or concern extra contractual liability of public bodies, administrative agents or individuals subject to the new State liability regime (Law Nr. 67/2007), the Administrative Courts will be competent to decide the claim. 10 Leniency 1 0 .1 Is leniency offered by a national competition authority in Portugal? If so, is (a) a successful and (b) an unsuccessful applicant for leniency given immunity from civil claims? Yes. Under the CL, the measure of the fine applied could vary according, inter alia, to the “collaboration given to the” NCA (art. 44, e)). Meanwhile, Law Nr. 39/2006 of 25 August established a formal leniency regime. 1 0 .2 Is (a) a successful and (b) an unsuccessful applicant for leniency permitted to withhold evidence disclosed by it when obtaining leniency in any subsequent court proceedings? There are no rules in the leniency regime in this regard. Evidence already disclosed to the NCA may be used for other purposes. In private litigation there are no major changes. The right to appeal from lower judicial courts to the appellate courts (Relação), which can decide on matters of fact and of law, and from there to the Supreme Court of Justice (Revista) depends directly on the value of the action (if it exceeds the value of the alçada) and on the importance of the loss under the ad quo court. The Supreme Court only decides on matters of law (see articles 676, 678, 691 et seq., and 721 et seq., CPC). 136 WWW.ICLG.CO.UK ICLG TO: COM PETITION LITIGATION 2 0 1 0 © Published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London Portugal M iguel Gorjão-Henriques Stéphanie Roux Sérvulo & Associados Rua Garrett, 64 1200-747 Lisboa Portugal Sérvulo & Associados Rua Garrett, 64 1200-747 Lisboa Portugal Tel: Fax: Email: URL: Tel: Fax: Email: URL: + 351 21 093 3000 + 351 21 093 3001/02 [email protected] www.servulo.com Partner at Sérvulo & Associados, Miguel Gorjão-Henriques has worked before in the Competition/EU departments of other major Portuguese law firms, being “ Specialist Lawyer in European and Competition Law” (Portuguese Bar Association - 2006). Mestre in Law (1997) and Assistant Professor at the Coimbra University Law Faculty (since 1992), teaching mainly EC/EU law and Competition Law, Miguel Gorjão-Henriques has lectured in several other Universities and Master courses, in Portugal and abroad. In the Competition Law area, Gorjão-Henriques was a member of the 3Person Commission that drafted the Portuguese Competition Law and the Competition Authority Law. Between 2001 and 2007, he drafted for INFARMED (National Pharmacy and Medicines Institute) all the legislation implementing the EC Directives, including the new Medicines Act. Rapporteur to the FIDE Congress 2004, has 30 published works in the areas of EC/EU Law, Competition Law and Pharmaceutical Law. Portugal Sérvulo & Associados, Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. + 351 21 093 3000 + 351 21 093 3001/02 [email protected] www.servulo.com Stéphanie Roux is a lawyer at Sérvulo & Associados. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University in 2005. Stéphanie Roux received the diploma of the European Academy of Public Law (Greece) in 2007, where she presented a study on golden shares. Her areas of expertise are Public Law, Regulatory Law and Public Procurement and European and Competition Law. Sérvulo & Associados is committed to provide legal services of excellence to the clients and to the market in areas of strategic relevance for the economy: Public Law, Regulation and Public Procurement, Commercial, Corporate Law and M&A, Financial Law, Capital Markets and Banking, Project Finance, Tax Law, Criminal Law, European and Competition Law, Health and Pharmaceutical Industry, Urban Planning, Environmental Law and Real Estate, as well as, Litigation and Arbitration. Sérvulo is supported by a renowned team of highly qualified and experienced lawyers, and the strong connection maintained with the academia is also a guarantee of quality for the legal services provided. In the practice area of European and Competition Law, Sérvulo advises companies, public or private, and the Government on any Competition Law, European Law or Pharmaceutical Law related issues, representing them also before the competent regulatory authorities or courts, at national or EC level. A special emphasis is placed on risk analysis arising from the strategies adopted for the commercial distribution of products and services and also in the analysis regarding State Aid. 137 ICLG TO: COM PETITION LITIGATION 2 0 1 0 © Published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London WWW.ICLG.CO.UK