Competition: Belgian law
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Rising stars
Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
contrast
Herlinde Burez is partner of contrast specializing in business law matters. She supports clients in shaping commercial relationships (e.g. with distributors and suppliers) to fit their business needs. She also assists clients in the day-to-day management of those relationships, including in relation to the termination of commercial cooperation agreements and related conflict management. Herlinde also has extensive experience in EU and Belgian merger control, and in the coordination of multi-jurisdictional mergers.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Covington & Burling LLP
Leading individuals
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Faros
Frank is senior partner within Faros, handling EU and domestic competition law matters. He handled some of the most notorious cases both at EU level (such as Akzo predatory pricing; Tractors on information exchange; Volvo/Renault and Volvo/Scania on merger control; Trucks on cartels) and the Belgian domestic level (such as Honda on abuse of dominance; Supermarkets on hub and spoke cartels; White Star in the sports field; Kinepolis on remedies in merger control; Volvo/Kant on merger control). Frank acted as expert advisor to DG Competition of the EC regarding the new EU competition law regime on vertical agreements. His report was published on the DG Competition website. Frank is assessor at the BCA (appointed in that position by the Belgian government in February 2022). Frank is professor at the Brussels School of Competition (LL.M.), where he teaches the “Law and Economics of Vertical Restraints”. He is author of leading monographs such as “Vertical Agreements in EU Competition Law” which is in its third and soon fourth edition and is published by Oxford University Press. His most recent publication is "Horizontal Agreements - Block Exemptions & Horizontal Guidelines - Toolbook for Practitioners" (LeA Publishers) on the revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on R&D and Specialisation agreements (‘HBERs') and the revised 2023 Horizontal Guidelines. He wrote this book together with Faros partners Emmelie Wijckmans, Maaike Visser and Karolien Francken and with Faros Associate Annemie Van de Vliet and Faros consultant Morgane Smets. This book contains the new legislation with indications of key words in bold, as well as a practical Q&A. Frank regularly speaks at leading national and international conferences on competition law. In addition to his competition law practice, Frank has extensive experience in arbitration. He has been designated arbitrator in several ICC, Cepani and ad hoc arbitrations. He has acted as an expert witness on competition matters in arbitration proceedings. He is teaching a workshop on arbitration and competition law at the Brussels School of Competition.
Hall of fameCrowell & Moring LLP
Thomas focuses on competition and antitrust law in Belgium and the EU. He is a skilled and experienced litigator before the Belgian courts and represents complainants and defendants in investigations before the Belgian Competition Authority and the European Commission. He represents clients in merger control matters and has developed pan-European antitrust compliance and training programs for multinational companies. He is involved in complex litigation affecting the TMT sector and advises on distribution issues, technology licensing, big data, joint bidding, standard setting, trade associations, pricing by dominant companies, etc. He assists clients on e-commerce and Internet-related issues and drafts and negotiates complex telecommunication agreements such as MVNO deals or interconnection agreements. He regularly represents one of Flanders' main players in the field of internet, telephony and interactive digital TV in contentious and non-contentious matters. Thomas has inter alia successfully represented online and land-based bookmakers in litigation against government-owned incumbent operators.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
contrast
Filip Tuytschaever is a partner of contrast. He specializes in EU and Belgian competition and distribution law and assists companies and public authorities (European Commission, European Banking Authority) before the EU and national authorities and courts. Co-editor of 'Horizontal Agreements and Cartels in EU Competition Law' (OUP 2015); co-author of 'Vertical Agreements in EU Competition Law' (3rd ed. OUP 2018).
Ashurst
Covington & Burling LLP