• Merger control
• Cartels and concerted practices
• Abuse of a dominant position
• Joint ventures and frameworks for cooperation between companies, including licensing, R&D and distribution agreements
• Fines and damages for infringements of competition law
• Competition compliance
• Subsidies and state aid
• International trade law, including anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and safeguard measures, customs and WTO law
• Regulatory law

With our unique network and selected partner firms we are perfectly positioned to advise on the planning and structuring of acquisitions and joint ventures, and to guide them smoothly through merger control clearance, including coordinating multi-jurisdictional filings. We also represent third parties during merger control procedures and in related court proceedings.

The fight against cartels has become a clear focus of many competition authorities; advising on cartels is a principal aspect of our practice. We regularly advise and represent clients during investigations of competition authorities and in related court proceedings. When an alleged cartel first comes to light we assist companies involved with the submission of applications for leniency or third parties with the submission of complaints.

Outstanding sales or innovative new products can easily give a company a leading or dominant position on the market. This in turn can have significant consequences for the way in which the company may behave towards its customers, competitors and suppliers, the way it may use its intellectual property rights and the agreements it may sign. Understanding these restrictions is particularly important given the significant fines that an abuse of a dominant position may generate. Our team can provide pragmatic and practical advice and training and assess any relevant agreements to help ensure that a company's actions cannot constitute an abuse of dominant position. We also have many years' experience in assessing possible oligopolies.

With self-assessment now the cornerstone of antitrust compliance in most jurisdictions, the onus is increasingly on companies to ensure that their practices and agreements are in line with the sometimes novel and untested antitrust law and the evolving market. Profit from our wealth of experience in drafting and assessing the competition compliance of agreements! This includes the analysis of contracts with and between suppliers, distributors and customers, such as licensing, R & D and distribution agreements. Our drafts and proposed amendments are both practical and market-oriented.

Infringements of competition law can have considerable consequences. For companies it is important to avoid the severe private, criminal and monetary consequences, not to mention adverse publicity and risks to reputation of a competition law infringement. We provide immediate and competent advice in such extreme situations, which are otherwise often chaotic for companies. Customers of a cartel and other companies affected by competition law infringements turn to us for assistance with the lodging of claims for damages before courts and tribunals. We have particular expertise in civil law procedures involving competition law infringements: experienced litigators and mediators as well as arbitration lawyers form an integral part of our team.

Prevention is better than a cure; that is why we provide clients with training and seminars for management and employees and produce tailor-made compliance programs and handbooks. We also provide full support to clients with the implementation of these programs.

The receipt of government subsidies can make it possible for companies to expand into new directions or locations, or facilitate new avenues of activity. In the EU, there are a number of complex rules regulating the grant of such aid, which may even require the approval of the EU Commission. Assessing the eligibility of new projects and greenfield investments for subsidies, tailoring the project and the relevant agreements to suit the desired aid and ensuring that the relevant notification is submitted and approved are all part of the core activities of our long-standing practice in this field.

Assisting clients in dealing with international trade issues forms a regular part of the work of our international trade practice, whether in gaining the widest possible access to markets by overcoming trade barriers or protecting against unfair competition from dumped or subsidised imports. Our team represents producers, importers, exporters and users in anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measure cases. We have successfully defended companies during investigations by the European Commission and national authorities and submitted requests for the initiation of proceedings on behalf of industry. Our team also provides practical advice on customs matters and on WTO law and developments.

While almost all markets are affected by one form of regulation or another, failure to comply can mean investigations, fines, removal of authorisations and import prohibitions and even criminal proceedings. It is therefore essential to ensure that any requirements are met. Our regulatory practice helps clients to make sense of these obligations. Our knowledge of the regulatory regime in core sectors, such as healthcare, food, chemicals, energy and telecommunications and our contacts to regulators enable us to pre-empt issues that are likely to be of concern for our clients, assist them in their risk management, and obtain the necessary regulatory clearances for their products and activities.

Last update: 18. December 2008