David Gallagher made Partner and Anthony Ojukwu hired as Counsel as Geradin Partners’ London growth continues

David Gallagher made Partner and Anthony Ojukwu hired as Counsel as Geradin Partners’ London growth continues

Geradin Partners has strengthened its London antitrust litigation team by promoting David Gallagher to Partner and by hiring Anthony Ojukwu, who joins as Counsel.

David Gallagher has been key to Geradin Partners’ strategic move into UK antitrust litigation. His CMA experience has also proved valuable for clients navigating competition authority investigations. Promoting David to Partner allows Geradin Partners to continue to grow in these areas.

Anthony Ojukwu’s hire continues Geradin Partners’ recent record of bringing in lawyers who have been running the highest profile cases at the CMA. He is the fourth former senior CMA lawyer to join the firm.

Damien Geradin, the founder of Geradin Partners, has said that promoting David and hiring Anthony represents just the beginning following the firm’s successful move into antitrust litigation in the past year. “David and Anthony are exceptional lawyers with the litigation experience we need to handle complex cases. This is a space in which we have great ambitions and where we will keep investing in the next few months and years.”

David Gallagher, newly promoted partner comments

“I joined Geradin Partners’ just over a year ago because I felt it was a different kind of law firm. I was motivated by the ethos and ambition of the firm as well as the quality of the work and clients. I am delighted to join the partnership and to be part of Geradin Partners’ continued expansion in litigation and beyond.”

Anthony Ojukwu remarks

“Geradin Partners has made a big impact since entering the UK market two years ago. I am keen to take the skills I developed at Freshfields and the CMA and use them on the complex, ground- breaking cases the firm acts on.”

Antitrust litigation is one of the three key pillars of Geradin Partners’ unique model (public antitrust enforcement and digital regulatory work being the other two). In the past year alone Geradin Partners has launched multi-billion-dollar UK and Netherlands ad tech class actions against Google as well as a billion-dollar App Store class action against Apple.

More announcements on the continued expansion of the firm, in the UK and in Europe, are imminent.

Contacts:

dgeradin@geradinpartners.com

dgallagher@geradinpartners.com

aojukwu@geradinpartners.com

Geradin promotes experienced competition and regulatory lawyer Konstantina Bania to partner

Leading competition law boutique Geradin Partners is pleased to announce that Dr. Konstantina Bania is promoted to partner effective 1 September 2022.

Konstantina, who is based in the firm’s London office but works across EU and UK matters, joined the firm in 2021 from the European Broadcasting Union where she was senior counsel and led its work in the areas of competition and platform regulation.

At Geradin Partners, Konstantina has focused her work on competition law and digital regulation in the tech and media sectors, notably advising a wide range of clients on the DMA and the DSA. She is also active in the State aid field, having recently advised a European media group on a complaint concerning subsidies granted to an audiovisual service provider.

Damien Geradin, founder of Geradin Partners, says:

“Konstantina is an exceptional colleague with the perfect combination of great knowledge of the law, commitment to excellence and client skills. She is the first female partner of the firm, as well as the first one coming through the ranks.”

Dr. Bania says:

“I am excited to be taking up this new role. Geradin Partners is a unique law firm in every regard. It offers an extraordinary client base, work on cutting edge matters that shape the law, and an unparalleled team spirit.”

Geradin Partners has now three partners in its London office, following the hires of Tom Smith and Stijn Huijts who were both former legal directors at the CMA.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

• Geradin Partners writes the widely acclaimed Platform Law Blog, which chronicles major antitrust and regulatory developments affecting digital platforms.
• More information on Geradin Partners can be found at geradinpartners.local/.
• The Brussels-based lawyers of Geradin Partners are regulated by the Brussels Bar. The London office is regulated by the UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
• Please contact Damien Geradin at dgeradin@geradinpartners.com or +32 471 17 95 25 for interviews.

Second CMA Director to join competition law boutique Geradin Partners

Leading competition law boutique Geradin Partners is pleased to announce the appointment of Stijn Huijts as Partner.

Stijn joins from the UK competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), where he was Legal Director. Before joining Geradin Partners, Stijn built up extensive experience leading complex antitrust and merger investigations.

Stijn led the legal teams in several high-profile antitrust investigations, including Hydrocortisone, which featured a record-breaking £260m penalty and Fludrocortisone in which the CMA secured a multi-million settlement for the National Health Service. Stijn also led the CMA’s legal preparations for Brexit, advising the UK Government on new legislation and advising extensively on the Withdrawal Agreement and its impact on competition enforcement. In addition, Stijn represented the United Kingdom in its last competition intervention in the EU Courts before Brexit in the appeal against the blocked Three/O2 merger. Stijn is Dutch-qualified and fluent in Dutch and, prior to joining the CMA eight years ago, advised clients in relation to Dutch and EU-related issues at a leading international law firm.

Stijn will be able to work across EU and UK matters and will therefore focus both on London-based work and on supporting the firm’s successful Brussels office. Geradin Partners advises leading companies on all aspects of competition law, including antitrust investigations, merger control, market studies and the emerging regulatory regimes for digital gatekeepers. 

Founding partner, Professor Damien Geradin says: 

“Stijn is a top-notch competition lawyer with invaluable experience of leading the most complex competition cases. We are absolutely thrilled to welcome him to our quickly expanding firm. We now boast more former CMA directors than any other London firm.”

Stijn Huijts says: 

“This is an exciting time to join Geradin Partners, a key player in complex competition matters with the ability to offer tailor-made solutions for our clients across the EU and United Kingdom. I also look forward to representing the firm’s clients in the Netherlands, the number 1 jurisdiction for private actions post-Brexit with an increasingly active competition authority.”

Businesses are increasingly managing antitrust issues across multiple European jurisdictions, with the CMA repatriating work post-Brexit, national competition authorities increasing their caseload against Big Tech, and the European Commission leading global efforts in relation to digital markets.

Stijn’s hire follows the hire of Tom Smith from the CMA in May this year, and the launch of the London office.

Geradin Partners is uniquely positioned to advise business on all aspects of competition and consumer law work in the UK, the EU and individual EU Member States.

Notes for Editors

• Geradin Partners writes the widely acclaimed Platform Law Blog, which chronicles major antitrust and regulatory developments affecting digital platforms. 
• More information on Geradin Partners can be found at geradinpartners.local/. 
• The Brussels-based lawyers of Geradin Partners are regulated by the Brussels Bar. The London office is regulated by the UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Stijn Huijts will be a registered EU lawyer in Brussels, a registered foreign lawyer under the SRA rules, and a Dutch-qualified lawyer in the Netherlands. 
• Please contact Damien Geradin at dgeradin@geradinpartners.com or +32 471 17 95 25 for interviews. 

Leading competition law firm Geradin Partners formally launches in London

July 8^th, 2021

Geradin Partners, the leading competition law firm, is pleased to announce that it now has full regulatory approval as a law firm in England & Wales.  This is another step forward in the expansion of our UK capabilities following the hire of Tom Smith, formerly Legal Director at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Further senior hires will join the London office in September.

Geradin Partners’ growing team of lawyers operate seamlessly across its Brussels and London offices, offering unparalleled insight for companies across these two key European jurisdictions.  For example, they are currently advising clients on multi-national mergers and antitrust investigations that involve both the European Commission and the CMA.  The UK is an increasingly important jurisdiction in the competition law world – the CMA has an increased role now that its powers to investigate the largest companies have been repatriated post-Brexit, and it has acquired a reputation for aggressive merger control. 

Geradin Partners is particularly noted for its work in the tech sector.  It is advising top notch tech clients on the implications of the new regulatory regimes for digital gatekeepers across the two jurisdictions – the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, and the UK’s Digital Markets Unit and the Online Safety Bill.  It is also working on many of the biggest antitrust investigations into the Big Tech companies in both the UK and EU. 

The firm is uniquely placed for this work given that founding partner, Damien Geradin, is a leading authority on the issues, appearing regularly before Parliamentary committees, and London partner, Tom Smith, previously led the legal team of the Digital Markets Taskforce, which was set up to advise the British Government on the new regime.  Senior associate, Dimitrios Katsifis, advises many leading companies in the complex field of AdTech.

Leading competition law boutique Geradin Partners expands in London

Leading competition law boutique Geradin Partners is pleased to announce that Tom Smith is joining as a Partner based in London. 

Tom Smith joins from the UK competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), where he was Legal Director. Before joining Geradin Partners, Tom led the legal team on the Digital Markets Taskforce, which was set up by the British Government to advise it on digital regulation. During his time at the CMA, Tom led many of the most significant cases including the market study into online platforms and digital advertising, the Sainsbury’s/Asda and BT/EE merger inquiries, the abuse of dominance case against Pfizer, and the retail banking market investigation. 

Governments around the world are now racing to enact new regulatory regimes for the digital gatekeepers. Geradin Partners is at the forefront of these issues, having advised many of the businesses most heavily involved. 

The firm already has a successful Brussels office, which advises leading companies on all aspects of competition law, including antitrust investigations, merger control, market studies and the emerging digital regulation regimes. It will now be able to offer London-based advice. 

 Founding partner, Professor Damien Geradin says: 

Expanding our London capability is the logical next step in our firm’s development, considering that the CMA has taken on a leading role in digital enforcement having set up the Digital Markets Unit and taken on more cases post-Brexit.

Tom Smith says: 

I am really excited to join Damien and the team, which is a market leader in the tech, telecoms and media sectors. We look forward to helping businesses navigate their most complex competition law issues.

The CMA’s core workload is increasing by around 50% due to competition work being repatriated post-Brexit. It also formed the new Digital Markets Unit in April 2021 as it moves towards a new regulatory regime for Big Tech. At the same time, the EU has proposed a similar regime in its Digital Markets Act. 

The CMA has acquired a strong reputation for interventionist merger control, making it central to UK and international M&A activity and meaning additional in-depth investigations (even absent the Brexit effect). Tom was previously Director of Mergers at the CMA and led the legal team in drafting the CMA’s new Merger Assessment Guidelines, which were published last month. 

Geradin Partners is well placed to advise businesses on all aspects of competition and consumer law work in the UK and EU. 

Notes for editors

• Geradin Partners writes the widely acclaimed Platform Law Blog, which chronicles major antitrust and regulatory developments affecting digital platforms. 
• More information on Geradin Partners can be found at geradinpartners.local/. 
• The Brussels-based lawyers of Geradin Partners are regulated by the Brussels Bar. The firm has applied to the UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for authorisation of a new UK law firm, which will be jointly led by Tom Smith and Damien Geradin. In the meantime, Tom Smith is regulated by the SRA with full entitlement to practise, and Damien Geradin is a registered foreign lawyer under the SRA rules. 
• Please contact Damien Geradin at dgeradin@geradinpartners.com or +32 471 17 95 25 for interviews.