Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP is a founding member of the Competition Pro Bono Scheme. The scheme has been set up in collaboration with a number of leading UK competition practices in order to give free time and resources to individuals and businesses with competition law grievances who may not otherwise be in a position to instruct specialist advisers. Advice may be sought concerning the possible impact of the European Union Competition Rules and/or national Competition Law on business activities in the United Kingdom, or other parts of the European Economic Area. The firms taking part in the scheme accept cases in rotation and guarantee a minimum amount of their solicitors' time free-of-charge.
The scheme is administered centrally and you can register your query on the Competition Pro Bono Scheme website.
The scheme has already thrown up a number of interesting competition issues for Shepherd and Wedderburn. John Schmidt, a partner in the firm's competition team, explained the benefit for both parties: "The attraction of this scheme is that it allows us to help others by using our ability as lawyers and it also provides some very interesting and diverse legal questions".