The Brussels office of Skadden opened in 1990 and advises clients on European Union (EU) law. Our attorneys handle matters involving EU and other non-U.S. antitrust, cartel and merger control laws, as well as a wide range of other EU competition, liberalization and regulatory issues.
Skadden is one of the most successful American law firms to have established a combined U.S. and European capability in Europe, developing local practices across the key European jurisdictions. Our European practice extends across five offices, operating as an integrated practice group without office or jurisdictional boundaries. This approach is a critical part of our competitive advantage in Europe.
Skadden’s Brussels office is consistently recognized as having one of the leading antitrust/competition practices in the area of European Union and International Competition by Chambers Europe, Global Competition Review, IFLR1000 and The Legal 500. We were recognized as one of Law360’s Competition Groups of the Year in 2020. In 2021, Skadden was named European Competition Team of the Year at The Lawyer European Awards, which “celebrate excellence across the European legal market.” In 2020, Benchmark Litigation named Skadden its European Competition Firm of the Year, while in 2019 the firm was named Competition Team of the Year by Legal Business. We also were named Transatlantic Antitrust Team of the Year by The American Lawyer and Legal Week at the 2019 and 2018 Transatlantic Legal Awards. Additionally, our antitrust/competition team has nine attorneys listed in Who’s Who Legal: Competition at all levels of seniority: partner, counsel and associate.
Merger Control
The Brussels office is involved in counseling and litigating on behalf of clients regarding EU and other non-U.S. antitrust issues raised by multinational mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Our attorneys appear regularly before the European Commission and national competition authorities. The Brussels office coordinates antitrust merger control notifications, reviews and approvals in jurisdictions outside the United States.
Government Investigations
The Brussels office advises clients in investigations before various government agencies, including in relation to alleged violations of Article 101 and Article 102 of the EU Treaty, and defends clients against increasingly vigorous enforcement actions brought by the European Commission and other antitrust agencies worldwide. We frequently assist clients who face parallel cartel investigations coordinated among global antitrust authorities in diverse jurisdictions — the U.S., Canada, the EU, South Africa, Brazil, Israel, Taiwan, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Australia. Our attorneys carefully conceive strategies to address important differences in procedural requirements and policy priorities that arise in global investigations, including on issues pertaining to leniency application requirements; document production, confidentiality and privilege; criminal sanctions for cartel behavior; and third-party access to evidence produced in other jurisdictions, both in litigation and administrative proceedings. Our global team works closely with our London litigation attorneys, who are experienced in handling private litigation that flows from findings of competition law infringement in Europe and worldwide.
Antitrust Counseling, Litigation and Compliance
The Brussels office practice also includes counseling, litigation and regulatory work on nontransactional EU competition and related regulatory matters. Much of our nontransaction practice is centered on EU and national competition laws regulating unilateral and concerted business conduct. Our attorneys advise clients on: Article 102 issues, including the legality of pricing, refusals to deal and other non-pricing business behavior by companies with significant market positions; and Article 101 issues, such as strategic alliances, review of structuring distribution arrangements, intellectual property licenses (e.g., patents, know-how, trademark and copyrights), and other vertical agreements and arrangements affecting parallel imports and other competitive arrangements. Attorneys work closely with in-house counsel to structure and implement EU antitrust compliance programs and to defend clients in enforcement actions brought by the European Commission.
Languages
Dutch/Flemish, English, French, German, Greek and Italian
