SHEPPARD - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Senior EU Law Specialist

Jane Golding is a senior EU law specialist, and a qualified barrister and solicitor. She has worked in the area of European law for over 20 years, at the European Commission, and in private practice in Italy, Germany, as well as in Brussels, where she spent over 15 years before moving to Berlin in 2009. She is now established in Berlin but still travels regularly for work to Brussels. Jane's main area of practice is EU competition law, with a focus on media and technology sectors, in particular the music sector, of which she has extensive experience, especially the digital recorded music market. Her practice also covers EU procurement law and general EU law. She guides clients through administrative proceedings before the European Commission, and represents them before the European Courts in Luxembourg. Jane advises on competition issues arising from commercial agreements and strategic joint ventures, as well as on antitrust compliance. She also advises on merger control matters, and has a particular expertise in third party opposition in EU merger control cases. Notably, she represented IMPALA (Independent Music Companies Association) in their landmark appeal against the European Commission's merger approval of the Sony/BMG JV in Impala v. Commission before the General Court and the ECJ. She has since advised clients on their opposition in a number of large merger cases in the music sector, as well as on antitrust matters, in particular, in relation to the digital music market, and to online platforms. Jane's clients range from corporations through trade associations, in addition to other law firms, and she has clients in a number of different jurisdictions. While competition compliance is a key aspect of her practice, she also advises clients on using competition rules to achieve commercial objectives, for example, to stop unfair trade practices by their competitors, or by dominant players, in the market. In addition, Jane has significant experience of legal lobbying, gained primarily through her work with the EU Committee of the Law Society, of which she was a member for 10 years. During that time, she was one of the co-authors of the Law Society Guide to the Lisbon Treaty and also gave oral evidence to the House of Lords about certain aspects of the Treaty. Jane holds an LLB/Maîtrise in English and French Law from King's College, London/Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). She qualified as a barrister in 1989 and, in 2002, she passed the conversion examination to qualify as a solicitor of England & Wales. Jane is able to work in French, Italian and German, in addition to her mother tongue English.

Job Titles:

• Consultant

Julian Maitland-Walker has been in private practice since 1974, specialising in the field of European and Competition law where he is recognised as a leading competition lawyer by the Legal 500 Directory. Chambers and Partners also rank Julian as leading in European and Competition law, and describe him as "a first-rate competition lawyer who truly understands EU law." Julian has acted in many leading cases before the EC and UK regulatory authorities as well the English Courts, the European Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice. His cases have related to matters such as beer supply, motor vehicle distribution and the pharmaceutical industry. Other areas of practice include intellectual property, registration and licensing, agency distribution, franchising, joint ventures and R & D agreements. He has practised in London, Brussels and in the provinces and has broad experience of all aspects of European and Competition law. He is a member of the Solicitors European Group, Centre for International Legal Studies, British Institute of International and Comparative Law and has also acted as special adviser on competition law to the BISS Select Committee of the House of Commons. Julian has been the Editor of the European Competition Law Review since it was established in 1980 and was recently appointed as a Registered Arbitrator of the Online Permanent Court of Arbitration in Europe. His publications include:

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Member of the Competition Law Association
• Practice Has a Specialist

Rupert Croft is a litigator whose practice has a specialist focus on anti-trust disputes. Rupert has represented clients in all levels of the courts, including the House of Lords (now Supreme Court) and the European Court of Justice. In 2001, he represented clients in the ECJ establishing the right to recover damages in the EU for infringement of competition law. Rupert is a member of the Competition Law Association, the Law Society's Dispute Resolution Section and the British Institute of International and Comparative law. Rupert is also an accredited mediator.

Job Titles:

• Founder
• Partner
• Solicitor ( England & Wales )

Susannah gained her law degree from Oxford University (LLM Hons.) she also has a Maîtrise in International Relations from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, a Master's degree in economics for competition law from King's College, London and a Diploma in Spanish from the University of Salamanca. Susannah speaks French and Spanish. Susannah is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars, is a member of the Competition Law Association and the International League of Competition Lawyers (LIDC). She has been recognised in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partner as a leading individual where she was described as an expert who "quickly gets to the heart of the issue, anticipating all the angles and identifying solutions to achieve clients' objectives reasonably and proportionately" and "is very sharp and highly focused; she cuts right down to the issues in a friendly but clear manner." SGFS Law Ltd (a legally qualified body authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 598005).