7. The Rise of Uber with General Counsel Michael Coutts

Uber's business has transformed urban life across the globe. As of 1 January 2022, Uber's platform powers movement in around 10,500 cities around the world. Michael Coutts' areas of practice include competition, regulatory and consumer law, having completed his Master of Laws where his dissertation analysed competition law issues associated with applying anti-fragmentation conditions to open-source software licensing agreements. Uber's Counsel Michael Coutts joins the podcast to discuss how competition law is addressing Uber's transformation of movement being a win for consumers but a loss for the gig economy, the biggest challenges facing the point-to-point transportation sector in Australia, what the aim of competition law is if it is not to protect inefficient businesses, and the tools Michael carries around in his competition lawyer tool-kit.


In this episode we discuss:

• Michael's work at Uber and the Uber journey.
• If Uber's transformation of movement is a win for consumers but a loss for the gig economy, how is competition law addressing this issue?
• What do you see is the aim of competition law if it is not to protect inefficient businesses?
• What do you see as the future of competition law and the trend in the markets?
• In your view, what are the biggest challenges facing the point-to-point transportation sector in Australia today and say, in 10 years?
• What do you like the most about working at Uber?
• What are some of the biggest problems you and your team at Uber have solved in the last two years, and how has the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to this?
• Mental health is a perennial challenge for the legal industry - What do you think that means for young people considering entering the profession, or who have recently entered the profession?
• What is one tool you always carry in your tool-kit as a competition lawyer?
• What has been the most influential resource for your career thus far?
• What is the best career advice you have ever received?

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Learn more about Michael:
- Michael's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldcoutts/?originalSubdomain=au