Claire Waterson is a Partner in William Fry’s Competition & Regulation Department advising on all aspects of Irish and EU competition law, including merger control, restrictive practices, State aids, public procurement and free movement. Claire specialises in sectoral regulation with a particular emphasis on telecommunications.
Recent significant deals include advising:
- Aughinish Alumina on its successful EU General Court challenge to a Commission State aid decision
- ComReg (Irish communications regulator) on a number of regulatory enforcement matters
- Electricity Supply Board on the Irish merger control aspects of its acquisition of the transmission and distribution assets of Northern Ireland Electricity
According to a source of Chambers Europe, 2013, Claire Waterson is 'tremendous: responsive, clear and pragmatic. She is the reason I keep going back to the firm.' Sources of the 2012 edition report that Claire 'is fabulous: she's responsive, on the ball, pleasant and incredibly knowledgeable on procurement and EU law issues.' Legal 500 EMEA, 2011, states that Claire is 'highly recommended'. According to Chambers Europe, 2011, 'her advice is cogent and thorough and her drafting is excellent.' Claire has also been described as 'totally on the ball' (Legal 500 2010) and '100% reliable' (Chambers Europe 2010).