I always wanted to work in competition law. Now I work at the Competition and Markets Authority.

Eleanor Burford is a former Law LLB student of Leeds Law School (2015-2019) with a passion for competition law. After several attempts, she now works as a Mergers Support Officer at the Competition & Markets Authority in London, while completing her part-time LPC.

This is Elle’s story.

I make sure company mergers are fair.

I work within the mergers department in the mergers support team at the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA). We are responsible for investigating any mergers or acquisitions which look like they may negatively affect competition for consumers – for example, by increasing prices or decreasing supply or availability. On any case, I work with the legal department, the mergers department and with an economist. We look into companies within any sector or industry.

Law is so relatable to everyday life.

My favourite part of my role is that it is so relatable to everyday life as a consumer, and that by investigating these mergers, we have the power to try to keep competition healthy, which gives me a real sense of satisfaction.

From Leeds to London, I now work in Canary Wharf.

I work from home 50% of the time, and from our Canary Wharf office the other 50%. We hot desk around the office and I have an amazing view of the Thames and the Shard. In terms of workload, I’ll normally work on one or two projects a day. I like to split my days so I’m not just working on one thing all day.

My office has a nice social side; on a Thursday, people go for a drink after work. If I go straight home, I’ll normally finish my day by having some dinner and then starting on my LPC uni work.

You have to have great communication skills.

I think to be successful in my role, you have to be able to communicate with people well. I will often work on a number of cases at once, with completely different teams of people and differing workloads. I have to be able to manage my own workload and seek help when needed. Mergers and Acquisition is a complex area of law (with a LOT of acronyms) and I am incredibly lucky to work with people who have years of experience. Being at the start of my career, I often have to reach out and check I understand the law behind whatever I am working on.

My biggest advice would be to apply for the role you really want.

If like I did, you’re struggling to get past the application stage, I would recommend widening your search to find any legal role, in any area of law, to get some experience. I worked in conveyancing for 18 months, and although it really wasn't an area in which I was interested in practising in the long-term, it gave me some relevant legal experience which then made me a lot more appealing to the CMA. Also, I found that as competition law isn’t as widely practised, finding a role in a high street firm was a little easier without experience.

I applied several times to the CMA before I got an interview; the Civil Service have a very strict interview framework, so understanding what they are looking for is key!

It’s easy to get disheartened by the legal industry.

Law is incredibly competitive and 99% of people don’t end up in their career goal straight away. When I left university, I struggled to find a legal role and went into legal recruitment, which wasn’t for me. I really wanted to work in competition law, yet it is quite a niche area of law to get into, so I started working in a large bulk conveyancing solicitors’ firm and enjoyed the independence of having my own files and being left to manage my clients. Having enjoyed this role, I then decided I was going to start the LPC and self-funded my place, which allowed me to carry on trying to get into competition law, without the constraint of staying in a firm that didn’t practice competition law.

I started to work for the Competition & Markets Authority in early 2022. I never thought I would ever work for the CMA, but I tried (and tried again), and eventually got the job. I have secured a role with a good future and long career.

I absolutely loved my time at Leeds Law School.

I found the course team to be super helpful and I loved my lectures. If I were to do it again, I would make more use of the Careers / Employment Team, and do more of the extra-curricular activities to make my CV look great!