Lucinda Cunningham

Contact Lucinda: lucindacunningham@matrixlaw.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7404 3447

Contact Lucinda's Practice Team (Team X): TeamX@matrixlaw.co.uk

Lucinda’s practice focuses on competition law and regulation, public law and human rights, EU law and environmental law.

Lucinda has been recognised by Legal 500 as a “Rising Star” in Competition for the past two years and “Up and Coming” by Chambers and Partners.

Prior to joining Matrix, Lucinda spent 14 months at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) as a Referendaire where she assisted the President and Tribunal panels (comprising High Court judges and economists) with the conduct, management and resolution of cases, including various high-profile collective actions and regulatory appeals.

Lucinda has subsequently been appointed to the CAT User Group.

Competition Law and Regulation

Lucinda is an experienced junior with a diverse competition and regulatory practice, recognised by Legal 500 as a “Rising Star” in Competition for two consecutive years.

As a former Referendaire to the President of the CAT, Lucinda has experience of a wide range of competition cases, including collective proceedings, regulatory appeals, judicial review applications, and private damages actions (both standalone and followon) across a number of different industries (including energy, utilities and telecommunications).

Recent and ongoing competition law and regulatory matters which Lucinda has acted include:

• Representing Apple, the Proposed Defendants, in Justin Gutmann v Apple Inc., & Ors in relation to opt-out collective proceedings before the CAT brought by Mr Gutmann on behalf of millions of iPhone users seeking damages of c.£800 million, including:
  • Appearing for Apple at CPO application hearings ([2023] CAT 35 and [2023 CAT 67]), CMCs, disclosure hearings before the CAT and subsequent appeals to the Court of Appeal ([2024] EWCA Civ 702).
  • Appearing unled as sole counsel before the CAT in relation to the lawfulness of the Class Representative’s funding arrangements [2024] CAT 18) where the CAT, in its Judgment, described her application as “persuasively” argued.
  • Lucinda also appeared as junior counsel before the Court of Appeal ([2025] EWCA Civ 459) in relation to the subsequent funding appeal.

• Representing Apple, the Proposed Defendants, in Christine Riefa Class Representative Limited v Apple Inc & Ors, the first proposed class action ever to have been refused certification outright by the CAT ([2025] CAT 5).
• Representing Professor Carolyn Roberts, the Proposed Class Representative, in Roberts v Thames Water & Ors, the first environmental opt-out class action comprising six claims (seeking up to £1.5 billion) filed against six water companies on behalf of millions of household customers alleged to have been overcharged on water bills.
  • Lucinda appeared before the CAT at the joint CMC ([2024] CAT 19) and at the certification hearing ([2025] CAT 17 (currently on appeal)).
• Acting for a Irish telecommunications company, eir, in its claim against BT – in relation to BT’s conduct during a tender process for a £400 million public sector contract – the first claim of its kind seeking damages under s.104 of the Communications Act 2003. Lucinda appeared before Mr Justice Adam Johnson in the High Court (Competition List) in a 5-week trial (judgment pending), which included her cross-examining several witnesses.
• Advising on several potential CPO applications on behalf of Proposed Defendants and Proposed Class Representatives.

Lucinda assisted with the following cases as a Referendaire at the CAT:

• BGL (Holdings) Limited & Ors v CMA [2022] CAT 36 (appeal against a CMA infringement decision concerning the use of wide most favoured nation clauses on home insurance price comparison websites)
• Airwave Solutions Limited & Ors v CMA [2022] CAT 4 (review of a CMA decision to make a market investigation reference)
• Achilles Information Limited v Network Rail Infrastructure Limited [2022] CAT 9 (quantum trial in private damages case)
• Merchant Interchange Fee Umbrella Proceedings [2022] CAT 14; [2022] CAT 31; [2022] CAT 50 (various claims by retailers for damages against Mastercard and Visa in respect of interchange fees)
• Hg Capital LLP & Ors v CMA – Liothyronine Proceedings (2022): (appeals against a CMA excessive pricing decision and fine of over £100 million concerning liothyronine tablets).

She has a particular interest in class actions having assisted on several high-profile cases whilst at the CAT (at various stages from filing through to certification and beyond), including:

• Elizabeth Helen Coll v Alphabet Inc. & Ors [2022] CAT 39 (application for a CPO)
• Justin Le Patourel v BT Group PLC (post-certification)
• Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen v Meta Platforms, Inc. & Ors (pre-certification matters)
• Clare Mary Joan Spottiswoode CBE v Nexans France S.A.S. & Others (precertification).

During her traineeship at Matrix (secondment), she assisted Rhodri Thompson KC and Nicholas Gibson with a CPO application before the CAT in UK Trucks Claim Limited v Ryder & Ors [2022] CAT 25.

Lucinda also advises regulatory bodies in relation to enforcement investigations and regulatory matters. Lucinda has considerable regulatory experience gained from working for four years at two different UK economic regulators prior to joining Matrix. In particular, Lucinda practised as a barrister in-house at the Financial Conduct Authority preparing, and advising case teams on, cases before the Regulatory Transactions Committee, the Regulatory Decisions Committee, the High Court and the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). She also spent two years at the Payment Systems Regulator working on enforcement cases involving the Interchange Fee Regulation.

Lucinda has also appeared led and unled before regulatory committees, disciplinary panels and First-tier Tribunals.

Public Law and Human Rights

Lucinda has experience of a range of public law matters and welcomes instructions in all areas of public law and human rights. During her traineeship at Matrix (secondment), Lucinda was supervised by Jessica Simor KC and Zoe Leventhal KC on public law matters. Her experience includes assisting with the following:

• NB & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 1489 – an intervention by Liberty in multiple claims challenging the adequacy of asylum accommodation at Napier Barracks in Kent (assisting Zoe Leventhal KC)
• Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Akhtar [2021] EWCA Civ 1353 – an appeal concerning the refusal of bereavement payments to a widow of a polygamous marriage and Article 14 ECHR (assisting Zoe Leventhal KC)
• (on the application of SH) v Norfolk CC [2020] EWHC 3436 – a judicial review of charges imposed for council-provided care which indirectly discriminated against severely disabled people (assisting Zoe Leventhal KC)
• Advising a regulator on a proposed JR challenge against it under s.149 of the Equality Act 2010 and preparing the response to the pre-action protocol letter (assisting Zoe Leventhal KC).

During her traineeship, Lucinda regularly acted for BID (Bail for Immigration Detainees) on behalf of detainees seeking immigration bail before the First-tier Tribunal

(Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and for the Free Representation Unit in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Entitlements Chamber).

EU Law

Lucinda’s practice in the areas of competition law, regulation and public law invariably involves the interpretation and application of law derived from the EU.

In addition, prior to joining Matrix, Lucinda worked at the FCA and the PSR where she routinely advised on the application of EU law in the areas of financial services, consumer protection and market abuse. She was also involved in work at the PSR to onshore relevant EU legislation post-Brexit.

Environmental Law

Lucinda welcomes instructions in environmental law, particularly where there is a competition and regulatory angle. During her traineeship at Matrix (secondment), Lucinda was supervised by Jessica Simor KC on the following environmental law matters:

• Friends of the Earth’s renewal application challenging UKEF’s decision to provide $1.15bn in financial support to a liquified natural gas project in Mozambique (assisting Jessica Simor KC, Kate Cook and Anita Davies)

• Advising a non-profit regarding the obligations on sellers of residential property to disclose air pollution levels to prospective purchasers under EU Consumer Law (assisting Jessica Simor KC).

Lucinda has also co-authored a report with Simon Holmes (CAT Tribunal Member) and

Nicole Kar (Partner at Linklaters LLP) entitled “Sustainability and Competition Law” which was presented to International League of Competition Law (LIDC) Congress in Milan in October 2022 and published in 2024 by Springer here.

As a Research Assistant at the Law Commission of England and Wales, Lucinda worked on a report laid before Parliament which looked at the legal and regulatory barriers to pension funds investing for social impact, including investments in infrastructure projects such as green energy.

Previous Experience

Prior to joining Matrix, Lucinda was a Referendaire at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). During her 14 months at the CAT (September 2021 to November 2022), she assisted the President (Sir Marcus Smith) and Tribunal panels with the conduct and resolution of a range of competition law and regulatory cases.

Prior to the CAT, Lucinda spent four years working in-house at two UK regulators. Lucinda was employed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a barrister in the Enforcement, Legal Department, where she also completed her traineeship. Lucinda spent seven months of her traineeship on secondment to Matrix (from November 2020 to May 2021) under the supervision of Jessica Simor KC, Zoe Leventhal KC, Nicholas Gibson and Christopher Brown.

Prior to her time at the FCA, Lucinda spent two years at the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) (2017-2019) where she led work to monitor and enforce compliance with the Interchange Fee Regulation 2015, whilst completing the Bar Course.

Before coming to the Bar, Lucinda was a Research Assistant at the Law Commission of England and Wales (2016-2017). She worked on the Pension Funds and Social Investment project and on proposals for the 13th Programme of Law Reform.

Qualifications, Awards and Memberships

Qualifications:

• Called to the Bar of England and Wales (2019)
• Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) (City Law School) (2019)
• Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) (Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford) (2016)
• Bachelor of Laws (LLB) First Class (2014)

Awards and Scholarships:

• Hardwicke Entrance Award (Lincoln’s Inn)
• Cassel Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
• Academic Excellence Scholarship (City University)
• Sweet & Maxwell Prize

Professional Memberships:

• Competition Law Association (CLA)
• Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA)
• JUSTICE
• Lord Denning Society (Lincoln’s Inn)
• CAT User Group

Lucinda is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. In order to provide legal services to her clients, including advice and representation services, she needs to collect and hold personal data. This includes her client’s personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the matter upon which she is instructed. To read Lucinda‘s privacy notice in full, please see here.