Standalone abuse of dominance claim against the Law Society

Standalone abuse of dominance claim against the Law Society

An online training company, Socrates Training, has filed a claim in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) alleging that the Law Society of England and Wales abused its dominant position in the anti-money laundering and financial crime training market by bundling its own training products.

Law firms are obliged to provide money laundering training to their staff.  Socrates claims that the Law Society’s requirement of firms to purchase its own training products in order to retain accreditation with the Conveyancing Quality Scheme restricts competition in the downstream market for anti-money laundering and financial crime online training services.

The competitor training firm is claiming damages and an injunction to prevent the Law Society from bundling its services.  The claimant has applied for fast-track designation of the proceedings pursuant to Rule 58 of the Tribunal Rules

The case is the third standalone damages action before the CAT since the UK Consumer Rights Act reforms expanded its jurisdiction with effect from 1 October 2015.  In January, National Compliance and Risk Qualifications (NCRQ), a health and safety body settled a claim against the Institution of Occupational Health and Safety after the latter had failed to accredit the NCRQ’s own diploma.  In March, a real estate developer withdrew a claim against Tesco after settling a dispute relating to a restrictive covenant over the use of land.

Whatever the substantive merits of these cases they illustrate that claimants are availing themselves of the opportunities provided by the reformed competition law litigation regime.  The rate of settlement is hardly surprising as most competition law claims will not proceed to full judgment.  Although it would certainly be useful in terms of precedent value if a sufficient number did.

CASE NO. 1249/5/7/16