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Sarah Love

Sarah Love

YEAR OF CALL: England and Wales: 2006; Ireland: 2018

"She produces particularly good written work and has excellent client-handling skills."
Chambers & Partners 2017
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Sarah Love is a leading junior who specialises in competition, regulatory and administrative law. She has been ranked in Chambers & Partners continuously, for several years, in the fields of Competition Law (“really accessible and super-smart without being intimidating”; “incredibly smart, very clever and has very good attention to detail”), Administrative & Public Law (“an extremely bright and fantastic advocate”) and Telecommunications (“an effective cross-examiner and very good at assimilating very complex subject matters and getting across the detail”; “fantastically bright; she's really able to grasp complex areas of law outside of her main field”). She is also gaining increasing recognition for her work in the Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals and FRAND spheres. Sarah won Competition Junior of the Year in the 2023 Legal 500 Bar Awards.

Sarah Love is a leading junior who specialises in competition, regulatory and administrative law. She has been ranked in Chambers & Partners continuously, for several years, in the fields of Competition Law (“really accessible and super-smart without being intimidating”; “incredibly smart, very clever and has very good attention to detail”), Administrative & Public Law (“an extremely bright and fantastic advocate”) and Telecommunications (“an effective cross-examiner and very good at assimilating very complex subject matters and getting across the detail”; “fantastically bright; she's really able to grasp complex areas of law outside of her main field”). She is also gaining increasing recognition for her work in the Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals and FRAND spheres. Sarah won Competition Junior of the Year in the 2023 Legal 500 Bar Awards.

Since joining Chambers in 2007, Sarah has appeared in several of the leading cases in her fields of specialism, including:

  • Acting for BT, the successful defendant, in Le Patourel v BT (the first UK opt-out collective action to reach trial)
  • Acting for Kelkoo and Ciao in the Google Shopping litigation
  • Acting unled for Lupin, a Part 20 Defendant, in the NHS v Servier litigation
  • Acting for Sainsbury’s in the Interchange litigation
  • Acting for Transport for London in the challenge by minicab firm Addison Lee to TfL’s policy preventing minicabs from using bus lanes
  • Acting unled for Gamma, the successful intervener, in the 08x Supreme Court case concerning BT's 'laddered' call termination charges

Sarah joined the Attorney General's Panels of Junior Counsel to the Crown in 2010 and progressed to the A Panel, of which she was a member from 2020 to 2025. She is called to the Bar of Ireland. She has acted for and advised a wide range of clients, including government departments, public authorities, trade associations, companies, charities and individuals.

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  • Competition M

    Sarah is ranked in Band 1 by both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. Her cases include:

    • Infederation Limited & others v Google LLC & others [2025] CAT 39 (judgment on which recitals in the Commission’s Google Shopping decision are binding on the national courts)
    • Case T-1080/23 Apple v Commission (challenge to gatekeeper designation under the Digital Markets Act)
    • Justin Le Patourel v BT Group plc [2024] CAT 76 (judgment following trial, in which the claim was dismissed; application for permission to appeal also dismissed: [2025] EWCA Civ 1061)
    • Optis Cellular Technology LLC v Apple Retail UK Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 552 (appeal against FRAND judgment; also acted for Apple on the question whether a user of standard essential patents is required, to avoid an injunction, to undertake to enter into licence on such terms as the Court later determines to be FRAND: [2022] EWCA Civ 1411)
    • Dawsongroup plc & others v DAF Trucks NV & others (acted for DAF in the Trucks litigation, 2022-23; settled before trial)
    • BT Group plc v Justin Le Patourel [2022] EWCA Civ 593 (appeal against certification)
    • Allianz Global Investors GmbH & others v Barclays Bank & others (acted for RBS in FX litigation, 2019-22)
    • Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd v Visa Europe Services LLC and others [2020] UKSC 24 (Interchange litigation)
    • ABF Ltd v Recticel NV/SA [2017] EWHC 3610 (Ch) (disclosure in relation to foam cartel)
    • Dahabshiil Transfer Services Ltd v Barclays Bank plc [2013] EWHC 3379 (Ch) (interim injunction obtained by an international money remitter to prevent Barclays from terminating its supply of banking services)
    • Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc & others [2009] UKSC 6 (acted for the Office of Fair Trading in the Bank Charges litigation)
  • Telecommunications & Regulatory M

    Sarah acts and advises across a range of regulated industries, including in particular Telecommunications. Some of the matters on which she has worked are:

    • Justin Le Patourel v BT Group plc [2024] CAT 76 (see under ‘Competition’ above)
    • BT Group plc v Justin Le Patourel [2022] EWCA Civ 593 (see under ‘Competition’ above)
    • NPower Direct Ltd v Gas and Electricity Markets Authority [2018] EWHC 3576 (Admin) (acted unled for the Competition and Markets Authority, which intervened in a challenge to Ofgem’s direction to an energy supplier to participate in a collective switch trial, a step taken in the light of the CMA’s findings and recommendations in its 2016 report into the energy market)
    • British Telecommunications plc v Office of Communications (BCMR) [2017] CAT 25 (acted unled, leading Tim Johnston, for Gamma, which intervened in a challenge to Ofcom’s decision to impose a ‘dark fibre’ remedy in the supply of leased lines)
    • Case C-518/13 R (Eventech Ltd) v Parking Adjudicator (acted for TfL in a reference for a preliminary ruling as to whether TfL’s ‘bus lane policy’ comes within the concept of State aid)
    • AXA PPP Healthcare Limited v Competition and Markets Authority [2015] CAT 5 (acted for AXA PPP in a challenge to aspects of the CMA market investigation into the private healthcare market)
    • British Telecommunications plc v Telefonica O2 UK Ltd & others (08x) [2014] UKSC 42 (acted unled for Gamma, which intervened in writing in this significant judgment concerning the lawfulness of BT's 'laddered' termination charges for 0800, 0845 and 0870 calls)
    • BAA Ltd v Competition Commission [2012] EWCA Civ 1077 (acted for Ryanair, which supported the Competition Commission's successful defence of BAA’s appeal against the July 2011 report requiring it to sell Stansted Airport)
    • Virgin Media, Inc & others v Office of Communications [2012] CAT 20 (acted for BT in the ‘Pay TV’ litigation regarding Ofcom’s decision to impose a ‘wholesale must-offer’ on Sky in relation to Sky Sports 1 and 2)
    • Competition Commission v BAA Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 1097 (acted for Ryanair in support of the Competition Commission's successful appeal against the CAT’s judgment quashing the March 2009 report on UK airports)
  • Public Law M

    Sarah has acted for and advised both applicants and respondents in judicial reviews and other administrative proceedings, including in particular Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals and healthcare matters. Some of the matters on which she has worked are:

    • HM Treasury v Global Feedback Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 624 (interpretation of article 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention)
    • ‘Isatuximab with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for treating relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma’ (acted unled for Myeloma UK and the UK Myeloma Society in their successful 2024 appeal before the NICE Appeal Panel)
    • ‘Voxelotor for treating haemolytic anaemia caused by sickle cell disease' (acted unled for Pfizer in its successful 2023 appeal before the NICE Appeal Panel)
    • ‘Daratumumab in combination for untreated systemic amyloid light-chain amyloidosis’ (acted unled for Myeloma UK in its successful 2023 appeal before the NICE Appeal Panel)
    • Live Nation Ltd v The Royal Parks & others (acted for Live Nation in a challenge – by way of procurement claim and judicial review – to the Royal Parks' decision to award the contract to run Hyde Park's summer music festival to AEG; settled before trial in 2020)
    • ‘Afamelanotide for treating erythropoietic protoporphyria’ (acted unled for CLINUVEL (UK) Ltd in its successful 2018 appeal before the NICE Appeal Panel)
    • R (Gudanaviciene & others) v Lord Chancellor & Director of Legal Aid Casework [2014] EWCA Civ 1622 (acted for the Defendants in six joined judicial review applications, intended as test cases as to the circumstances when legal aid must be made available in immigration cases)
    • R (Cushnie) v Secretary of State for Health [2014] EWHC 3626 (Admin) (acted for the Secretary of State for Health in a challenge to provisions of the National Health Services (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2001)
    • R (Whapples) v Birmingham Crosscity Clinical Commissioning Group [2014] EWHC 2647 (Admin) (acted unled for the Secretary of State for Health, who was an interested party intervening in support of the successful defendant in a challenge to a decision as to whether there was an obligation under s.3 of the National Health Service Act 2006 to provide the Claimant with accommodation)
    • R (W, X, Y and Z) v Secretary of State for Health [2014] EWHC 1532 (Admin) (acted for the Secretary of State for Health in this successful defence of a challenge to NHS data-sharing arrangements about patients who have incurred NHS debts; subsequently acted in the pre-hearing stages of the successful defence of the appeal: [2015] EWCA Civ 1034)
  • Qualifications M
    • Bar Vocational Course, BPP Law School - Outstanding, finished 3rd in year (2006)
    • Queen Mother's Fund Scholarship for Bar Vocational Course, Middle Temple (2005)
    • Postgraduate Diploma in EC Competition Law, King's College (2006)
    • Graduate Diploma in Law, City University - Distinction, finished 1st in year (2005)
    • Baron Dr Ver Heyden de Lancey Prize for the Bar Vocational Course, Middle Temple (2006)
    • 3 Verulam Buildings Prize for best overall examination results in Graduate Diploma in Law, City University (2005)
    • Winner, European Law Students' Association WTO Moot Court Competition (2005); also winner of prizes for best written memorials and UK round
    • Queen Mother's Fund Scholarships for Graduate Diploma in Law and Harmsworth Entrance Award, Middle Temple (2004)
    • Michael von Clemm Scholar, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University (2002-03)
    • MA (Oxon) Philosophy, Politics & Economics, Magdalen College, University of Oxford - First Class Honours, finished 1st in year (2002), Distinction in Preliminary Examinations (1999)
    • Hicks and Webb Medley Prize for Economics (best in year) in Final Examinations, University of Oxford (2002)
    • Proxime accessit to the Gibbs Prize for Politics (runner up) in Final Examinations, University of Oxford (2002)
    • Gibbs Prize for Politics (best in year) in Preliminary Examinations, University of Oxford (2000)
  • Publications M

    Law publications

    • Blakeley R, Knight C, Love S, The New Tribunals Handbook. Bloomsbury Professional, 2011
    • Contributor to Brealey QC, Green QC (general eds),Competition Litigation. UK Practice and Procedure. OUP, 2010
    • Love S. The Merger Action Group Case. (2009) Competition Law Journal 8(2), 107
    • Robertson A, Lester M, Love S. Judicial review in the United Kingdom of Competition and State Aid Decisions - Part I. [2007] 10 ECLR 553
    • Robertson A, Lester M, Love S. Judicial review in the United Kingdom of Competition and State Aid Decisions - Part II. [2007] 11 ECLR 585

    Selected economics publications

    • Love S. Fiscal policy: principles and practice. Economic Review 2004; 22
    • Emmerson C, Frayne C, Love S. Updating the UK's code for fiscal stability. IFS Working Paper W04/29, November 2004
    • Emmerson C, Frayne C, Love S. A Survey of Public Spending in the UK. IFS Briefing Note No. 43, updated September 2004
    • Emmerson C, Frayne C, Love S. The government's fiscal rules. IFS Briefing Note No. 16, updated August 2004
    • Contributor to Chapters 2, 3 and 7 of Chote R, Emmerson C, Oldfield Z (eds). The IFS Green Budget: January 2004
    • Clark T, Elsby M, Love S. Trends in British public investment. Fiscal Studies 2002; 23: 305-42.
  • Directory Quotes M

    "Sarah is an amazing barrister. She is well organised and brilliantly choreographs appeals."(Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "Sarah is an excellent senior junior. She is a detail-oriented advocate who is very impressive on her feet." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "Her ability to think on her feet, asking questions and reacting to changes is very impressive." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "Sarah is an extremely bright and fantastic advocate. She really knows the law inside out and she is a wonderful addition to any legal team." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "She's bright as a button, highly analytical and good on her feet." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "She is incredibly smart, very clever and has very good attention to detail. She makes really incisive arguments and she is very good at picking up materials." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "Sarah is one of the preeminent senior juniors. Clients absolutely love her and her style. She is really accessible and super-smart without being intimidating." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "Sarah is an effective cross-examiner and very good at assimilating very complex subject matters and getting across the detail." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "Sarah is fantastically bright; she's really able to grasp complex areas of law outside of her main field. She drafts written documents well and is an extremely hard worker." (Chambers & Partners 2025)

    "Sarah is one of the highest quality juniors at the competition damages Bar and is destined for the top. She understands the law, economics and commercial dynamics at play extremely well, and is able to discern the correct course through those factors with remarkable clarity. She is also a joy to work with and the clients love her." (Legal 500 2025)

    "Sarah is fantastic. She has great sector knowledge, is great with clients and is very quick to grasp topics - a great lawyer generally." (Chambers & Partners 2024)

    "Sarah is sensible, straight, direct and clear." (Chambers & Partners 2024)

    "Sarah Love is a go-to barrister on competition law matters." (Chambers & Partners 2024) "She is incredibly sharp in her knowledge on the law and drafting." (Chambers & Partners 2024)

    "She is excellent - insightful, all over the detail, and a fountain of information. I have enjoyed working with her." (Chambers & Partners 2024)

    "Very bright and a pleasure to work with, she does an immaculate job. She is highly strategic and someone with great judgement." (Chambers & Partners 2024)

    "Sarah is very nice, phenomenally smart, and someone whose submissions are clear and crisp." (Chambers & Partners 2024)

    "Sarah is extremely bright, responsive and good at delivering clear advice. She gets into the details of cases and ensures that she is able to provide really effective support." (Legal 500 2024)

    "She is a calming presence in whom judges place their trust." (Legal 500 2024)

    "Sarah is extremely bright, responsive and good at delivering clear advice. She gets into the details of cases and ensures that she is able to provide really effective support." (Legal 500 2024)

    "Sarah has a beautiful manner with the court. She is engaging but low-key and friendly in her style of advocacy, and she produces really well-targeted submissions." (Chambers & Partners 2023)

    "Incredibly smart and a fantastic drafter. A woman of great intelligence, she picks up everything incredibly quickly and is always on top of the detail." (Chambers & Partners 2023)

    "She is extremely responsive. Clients appreciate her commercial and practical approach." (Chambers & Partners 2023)

    "Sarah is very perceptive; she comes with very insightful points and is quick to get to the good points." (Chambers & Partners 2023)

    'Excellent written work and strong, persuasive oral advocacy.' (Legal 500 2023)

    'Very clever and very user friendly. Offers insights beyond her years and contributes strongly to strategy discussions.' (Legal 500 2023)

    ‘Sarah is calm and authoritative, incredibly clever and a fantastic strategic thinker.' (Legal 500 2023)

    "Sarah has a fantastic command of the detail and drafting. She is always one step ahead." "She spots the technical points that others do not see." "She can extract from the submission very clear points and is able to run through them in front of the judges. She has a great oratory style and a really close knowledge of the factual background of the cases, and she can delve into everything." (Chambers & Partners 2022)

    "Clients get on with her really well. She is also really good with strategy." "She is a real expert and has an in-depth knowledge of judgments." (Chambers & Partners 2022)

    "Her technical knowledge is excellent. Silks are turning to her and relying on her in quite a big way these days." (Chambers & Partners 2022)

    "Excellent written work and oral advocacy and always gets to the heart of the issue." (Legal 500 2022)

    "What particularly marks Sarah out is that she was a prize-winning economist at Oxford and then in practice, before turning to the law and so has an understanding of economics way beyond most barristers practising competition law. Fantastically intelligent and hardworking." (Legal 500 2022)

    "She is a formidable drafter, tactically very astute and incredibly hard-working." (Legal 500 2022)

    "She is absolutely first-class and really understands how the market operates." "She's always very bright, responsive and able to produce high-quality work in a short period of time." "Sarah is intensely clever." (Chambers & Partners 2021)

    "Sarah is an excellent senior junior, with strong advocacy skills and an ability to grasp complex issues immediately." "She is an astute practitioner, who has a good grasp of the telecoms sector and a forensic understanding of the court." "Sarah is very bright, extremely helpful and really well informed." (Chambers & Partners 2021)

    "An extraordinary intellect with a background in economics, she is in great demand. Amongst the top juniors at the competition bar, she is particularly strong on regulatory matters and judicial reviews." (Legal 500 2021)

    "Her written work is excellent and always meticulously argued. Her oral advocacy is very effective and she is highly skilled at distilling the key points." (Legal 500 2021)

    "One of the best when it comes to complex public law matters with an international or commercial dimension. (Legal 500 2021)

    Sarah Love is a “very good strategist” and “a pleasure to work with”. She has an excellent track record handling competition matters in the telecommunications sector. (Who's Who Legal - UK Bar: Competition 2020)

    Sarah Love comes highly recommended by sources for her top-tier advocacy in competition and regulatory proceedings in the telecoms space. (Who's Who Legal - UK Bar: Telecoms 2020)

    "She's extremely effective, delightful to work with and unfailingly impressive." "A clever person and a good hard worker," she is "very clear and able to distil arguments down to the key points very effectively." (Chambers & Partners 2020)

    "Direct, succinct and practical." "She is really good at understanding the overall picture of all of the issues in a case and how they interlink." "She functions superbly in a team environment and her drafting skills are excellent." (Chambers & Partners UK & Global 2020)

    "A good team player who drafts persuasively." (Legal 500 2020)

    "She has an excellent grasp of the economics underlying the subject." (Legal 500 2020)

    Sarah Love “really impresses” according to respondents who consider her a specialist in competition and regulatory matters pertaining to the telecoms sector. (Who's Who Legal - UK Bar: Telecoms 2019)

    "Sarah is incredibly energetic, bright and someone who writes incredibly well and turns around crystal clear documents in a short space of time." (Chambers & Partners UK & Global 2019)

    Sarah Love is “really impressive” and stands out among peers as “a formidable opponent” who is “very fluent on paper and in oral submissions”. One source effuses: “She has got an incredible future at the Bar and certainly in telecoms work.” (Who's Who Legal - UK Bar: Telecoms 2018)

    Sarah Love is a “really impressive” barrister who is “very fluent on paper and in oral submissions and is a formidable opponent”. She is highly regarded for her expertise in competition law, particularly in economically regulated industries. (Who's Who Legal - UK Bar: Competition 2018)

    "She drafts excellently and her knowledge of economics was very helpful." (Chambers & Partners 2018)

    "Sarah Love is most often instructed by BT and is a recognised expert in competition law and regulatory issues." (Who's Who Legal - UK Bar: Telecoms 2017)

    "She produces particularly good written work and has excellent client-handling skills." (Chambers & Partners 2017)

    “She’s incredibly clever and leaves no stone unturned in working out the details to things.” (Chambers & Partners 2016)

    "She really understands the detail of a case and is able to provide very good tactical litigation advice." (Chambers & Partners 2016)

    “She is very bright, very personable, commercially aware and responsive to client needs.” “She is very clever.” (Chambers & Partners 2015)

    “She grasps the issues very quickly, and is also very user-friendly and excellent to work with.” “A sensible practitioner, who is very clever.” (Chambers & Partners 2015)

    “She has the law at her fingertips and is also brilliant with technical evidence.” (Chambers & Partners 2014)

    “She is intellectually astute, exceptionally pleasant to deal with and very good in front of clients.” (Chambers & Partners 2014)

    "Clients describe Sarah Love as "fantastic" and "very good at getting straight to the point."" (Chambers & Partners 2013)

    "Sarah Love is valued for her background in economics and the attendant depth that this brings to her knowledge of the competition law world. She is considered "a really excellent junior and somebody I would consistently use."" (Chambers & Partners 2013)

    "Sarah Love is hailed as "a star of the future." An individual with an economics background, she has made a fine practice for herself encompassing cases relating to competition, administrative law and regulatory issues. Sources say "she is fearsomely intelligent and produces brilliantly drafted documents." " (Chambers & Partners 2012)

    "Sarah Love impresses market commentators with her "excellent written work." She acted for BT in the Pay TV proceedings relating to Ofcom's decision to impose a wholesale must offer remedy on Sky." (Chambers & Partners 2012)