The competition partner is a strong advocate for workplace diversity and inclusion
Last month, Thomsons welcomed former Clifford Chance lawyer Mark Grime to its competition and antitrust partnership in Sydney. He brought to the firm his experience with issues involving merger control, behavioural antitrust and cartel investigations, market studies, regulated infrastructure and third-party access regimes, and ACCC enforcement proceedings.
He has worked in the ACCC’s enforcement and mergers divisions and has helped to obtain approvals under the commission’s new merger regime. He worked with L'Oreal on its $7bn acquisition of Kering Beauty and with Adobe on its $3bn Semrush Holdings acquisition.
Australasian Lawyer caught up with Grime shortly after his new appointment; in the first part of this interview, he tells us what he loves about competition law and his support for diversity and inclusion.
What made you choose a career in law, and what's your favourite part of the job?
My intellectual curiosity and love for a challenge were the primary pull factors for choosing a legal career. I also enjoy a robust discussion on tricky topics and surrounding myself with people who are smarter than I am, so it seemed like a natural fit.
As a competition lawyer, I get to work on some very interesting and novel matters. Learning the "ins" and "outs" of complex industries and supply chains ranging from electricity generation to snacks to AI and everything in between keeps things very interesting and colourful, but ultimately the best part of the job for me is getting to work with, and across from, great people—original, I know!
What in your opinion has been the most memorable event of your career to date?
I don’t like to play favourites as there have been many memorable events over the course of my career to date, which has taken me all over the world. I've been lucky enough to have worked with some brilliant minds on some of the most high-profile matters in the space but the "high" that comes with being appointed partner at a major Australian law firm is front of mind for me at the moment. I'm hopeful there will be many more.
What in your opinion was the most important thing you got involved in over the past year?
Interesting legal work aside, I'm a vocal supporter of workplace diversity and inclusion and being part of a team that achieved platinum status in the Australian Workplace Equality Index last year was a very proud moment for me. Helping to shine a light on ways to make people from all walks of like feel safe and valued is something I'm very passionate about.
