Scott Fitzgibbon

A European manufacturing client and its Australian subsidiary narrowly avoided ACCC scrutiny and potentially crippling penalties thanks to targeted competition advice they received from Scott. The client had proposed to acquire a major Australian competitor. Through his extensive manufacturing industry knowledge, Scott was able to demonstrate that a recent change to the law prohibiting ‘concerted practices’, or coordination between competitors, dramatically increased the risk involved with the acquisition. Prior to the law change this would have been minor. Thanks to the advice, the client was able to pursue a safer investment strategy.

A former employee of a vehicle manufacturing client downloaded design software onto a company computer without paying for the licence to use it. The software lay dormant on the computer until a new employee opened it some months later. This triggered an alert to the software owner and a demand for damages for infringement of copyright was issued. Scott and team were able to intervene, demonstrating the history of the download, its inadvertent and extremely limited use and the absence of any commercial benefit of the program to the client. A settlement was reached on reasonable terms without the matter moving to court.

A manufacturing client became the subject of regulatory scrutiny over seemingly normal discussions between industry competitors, which the ACCC alleged were anti-competitive. Scott and his team undertook a program of actions to allow the client to defend himself to the ACCC. They were engaged to educate the client on relevant competition laws and how discussions between parties in the same industry can result in significant financial and reputational damage. They prepared materials and ran seminars tailored to the client’s business, discussing the specific risks it faced. This program was then used to demonstrate to the ACCC that the client had taken genuine and meaningful steps to change its behaviour.