People
Paul Henty
Partner
Paul advises on a wide range of regulatory matters as well as general corporate and commercial law.
He advises on all matters related to competition, state aid (subsidy control) and public and utilities procurement. He provides support to clients in a significant number of sectors, notably construction and engineering, infrastructure (notably rail, ports and data centres), facilities management, healthcare, technology and sport.
Between 2013 and 2021, Paul was Partner and Co-Head of the EU Competition team at a top London firm. Paul’s previous experience includes working at DG Competition at the European Commission in Brussels, reviewing antitrust and merger control decisions. He also had a period of secondment in the Law Society’s Brussels Office. Paul is ranked as a ‘Recommended Lawyer’ in Legal 500 and recognised as a ‘Leading Individual’ in Chambers & Partners.
Paul has extensive experience in all matters related to public and utilities procurement. He has initiated many supplier challenges to procurement award decisions during his career. While acting predominantly for suppliers, he has also advised contracting authorities such as NHS Trusts and regulated infrastructure operators. He is a longstanding member of the Editorial Board of Public Procurement Law Review.
Aside from his competition and procurement practice, he also assists clients with contract negotiation, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. He frequently advises on the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and has collaborated with Anti-Slavery International.
In addition, Paul has supported clients with legal issues arising from Brexit, as well as privacy and data protection.
Experience
- Advising a leading construction company on its defence of a cartel investigation by a national competition regulator, leading to substantial reduction in penalties and minimising scope of investigation
- Advising in connection with a leniency program in a construction related investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority
- Advising a leading engineering concern on a successful challenge to an infrastructure procurement, leading to reversal of contract award decision
- Representing leading grounds maintenance contractor in successful challenge to local authority procurement, leading to payment of substantial out of court damages
- Advising an international engineering business on representations made to the EU Commission in relation to the merger of two large rail concerns, contributing to the decision to prohibit the merger
- Successfully seeking merger clearance from the EU Commission in relation to the merger of two large housing developers
- Representing a third party in relation to a successful intervention in a healthcare related judicial review before the High Court
- Making representations to the EU and CMA on behalf of a trade association in relation to the ongoing review of the Vertical Agreements Block Exemption and accompanying guidelines
- T: +44 (0) 20 7469 0499
- M: +44 (0) 744 388 3081
- E: p.henty@beale-law.com