Quick Summary: Competition law is one of the most commercially valuable and intellectually demanding areas of legal specialisation. This guide covers every essential text — from accessible LLM introductions to the practitioner treatises used daily by City competition lawyers.
Competition law — governing how markets work, preventing anti-competitive behaviour, controlling mergers, and regulating state aid — sits at the intersection of law and economics. Post-Brexit, UK competition law has developed its own distinct trajectory alongside EU competition law, making this a particularly dynamic and intellectually rich area.
Careers in competition law at major UK and international law firms, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the European Commission are among the most sought-after in the legal profession. The reading list for serious competition law study reflects that ambition.
In This Guide
Essential LLM Texts
EU Competition Law (7th ed.) — Jones, Sufrin & Dunne (OUP)
The most widely assigned competition law textbook at UK LLM programmes. Comprehensive, rigorous, and clearly written. The seventh edition fully integrates post-Brexit UK competition law developments alongside the EU framework — a significant improvement over previous editions that had limited UK coverage. Covers Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, EU merger regulation, state aid, and enforcement in depth. Used at King’s, UCL, LSE, and most other leading UK law schools.
- ✓ Comprehensive on both EU and UK competition law
- ✓ Clear economic analysis integrated throughout
- ✓ Up-to-date on CMA enforcement and digital markets
- ✓ Most accessible of the advanced texts
- ✗ Less detailed than Bellamy & Child on EU case law
Cases and Materials on EU Competition Law — Goyder & Albors-Llorens (OUP)
The essential casebook companion to Jones & Sufrin. Contains the primary source materials — Commission decisions, Court of Justice judgments, guidelines — that you need for serious competition law study. Many modules assign both Jones & Sufrin (for commentary) and Goyder (for materials). Check your reading list carefully.
Price: ~£45–£60 | View on Amazon UK →
UK Competition Law Post-Brexit
Post-Brexit, UK competition law has been enforced entirely by the CMA under the Competition Act 1998 and Enterprise Act 2002, without the EU framework. This has created a rapidly developing body of UK-specific law that requires dedicated study.
UK Competition Law: Law and Practice — Whish & Bailey (OUP)
The most authoritative text on UK competition law specifically. Richard Whish is one of the most respected competition lawyers and academics in the UK. This text covers the Competition Act 1998, Enterprise Act 2002, CMA enforcement, mergers, and market investigations. Essential for students focusing on UK practice rather than purely EU law. Particularly important for those planning careers at the CMA or in UK-focused competition law practices.
Price: ~£60–£80 | View on Amazon UK →
Practitioner References
These are the books on the shelves of competition law partners at major City firms. Most LLM students use them for dissertation research rather than buying — but they are worth knowing.
Bellamy & Child: European Union Law of Competition (8th ed.) (OUP)
The practitioner’s definitive reference on EU competition law. Exhaustively detailed, comprehensively cited, and updated to reflect current EU practice. Used daily by competition law solicitors at major firms. Not a student text — it is a professional reference at a professional price. Essential for dissertation research on any EU competition law topic and indispensable for practice. The Kluwer Competition Law database includes access to Bellamy & Child online.
Price: ~£350–£450 | View on Amazon UK →
World Competition: Law and Economics Review (Kluwer Law International)
The leading scholarly journal in international competition law. Published by Kluwer Law International, it covers competition law developments across all major jurisdictions with both legal and economic analysis. Essential ongoing reading for LLM students who want to follow the field beyond their module reading list, and invaluable for dissertation research.
Journal access: View on Wolters Kluwer →
Law & Economics
Competition law cannot be studied seriously without engaging with economics. Merger control, market definition, abuse of dominance, and cartel analysis all require economic reasoning. Most LLM competition law programmes assume some basic economics and build on it.
Economics of EU Competition Law — Bishop & Walker (Sweet & Maxwell)
The most accessible bridge between competition law and economics for legally-trained readers. Explains market definition, market power, predatory pricing, and merger analysis in terms that lawyers can engage with without an economics degree. Widely assigned as supplementary reading on LLM competition law modules.
Price: ~£60–£80 | View on Amazon UK →
Digital Markets & Competition
The application of competition law to digital markets — Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple — is the most rapidly evolving and intellectually contested area of competition law. The UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 represents a significant new regulatory framework.
Competition Law and Digital Markets — Graef (Cambridge University Press)
One of the most important recent books on competition law and the digital economy. Examines how traditional competition law tools apply to platform markets, data-driven businesses, and algorithmic pricing. Increasingly assigned on competition law LLM modules as digital markets have become central to competition law practice and scholarship.
Price: ~£35–£50 | View on Amazon UK →
Which UK university is best for an LLM in competition law?
King’s College London has the strongest reputation for competition law LLM study in the UK, with strong connections to City competition law practices and the CMA. UCL and LSE are also excellent. All three offer modules on both EU and UK competition law with strong academic and practitioner connections.
Do I need to understand economics to study competition law?
Not at an advanced level before you start — but you will need to develop economic intuition as you go. Most competition law LLM programmes include some introduction to relevant economic concepts. Bishop & Walker (above) is specifically written to bridge the gap. The economics of competition law is learnable for legally-trained students and is one of the things that makes the subject intellectually distinctive.
Has Brexit significantly changed UK competition law?
Yes. Since January 2021, EU competition law no longer applies directly in the UK. The CMA now has exclusive jurisdiction over mergers and anti-competitive behaviour with effects in the UK. In practice, large cross-border deals are investigated in parallel by the CMA and the European Commission — a significant change from the pre-Brexit one-stop-shop system. Students focused on UK practice need both the EU and UK frameworks: Jones, Sufrin & Dunne covers both well.