CAT Unveil Huge Tesco Legal Costs

Tue, 20 Oct 2009

Tesco’s unsuccessful attempts to overturn a Competition Commission ruling cost them almost £1.4 million, it has been revealed. Tesco opposed proposed restrictions from the Competition Commission on where supermarkets could open new stores, racking up the seven figure legal costs in the process.

The supermarket spent £711,000 on hiring its solicitors, predominantly from City law firm Freshfields, and a further £240,000 on hiring three expert witnesses to give evidence at a judicial review. Copying charges totalled a ridiculous £76,000. The legal costs were revealed in a 16 page ruling by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which labelled the costs as ‘very high’.

Tesco has applied to the appeals tribunal for costs, but was awarded just £312,000. The tribunal ruled that Tesco’s conduct was not befitting of being awarded full costs, as the competition watchdog had been able to arrive at the main hearing with one sixth of Tesco’s costs. They had been able to go to court less expensively by using Treasury lawyers .

Tesco’s chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, last week played down the importance of the case, saying they had appealed as a matter of principal, calling for planning decisions to be made by elected officials rather than Whitehall bureaucrats.
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