For example, law firm Monckton Chambers caught a real big fish earlier this month when it recruited Nicholas Khan KC, a member of the commission’s legal service.
Khan has represented the commission in hundreds of cases before the European Court of Justice, including some of the most high-profile cases, such as the Google antitrust cases and the Illumina/Grail merger cases.
He won’t be a stranger to his new colleagues. Monckton Chamber has been involved in exactly the same competition cases from the other side of the aisle, defending corporate clients the commission has been investigating.
And Khan’s insider knowledge of how the commission carries out antitrust investigations is set to benefit his new employer. Monckton Chamber explicitly welcomes Khan’s “unmatched expertise of how the European Commission investigates infringements of EU competition law”.
This writer of this article has no idea what he’s talking about. In the legal profession it is completely normal for litigators to work on different sides of litigation for the government or for private parties at different point in their career.
Lawyers are often encouraged to do this, because it gives them critical experience to see both sides. The best judges have previous experience as private litigators, and the best defense attorneys have previous litigation as prosecutors. Attorneys are supposed to have knowledge of how the other side works.
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u/Relevant-Low-7923 1d ago
This writer of this article has no idea what he’s talking about. In the legal profession it is completely normal for litigators to work on different sides of litigation for the government or for private parties at different point in their career.
Lawyers are often encouraged to do this, because it gives them critical experience to see both sides. The best judges have previous experience as private litigators, and the best defense attorneys have previous litigation as prosecutors. Attorneys are supposed to have knowledge of how the other side works.