K&L Gates GP
Client SatisfactionLawyers
Francesco Carloni is a partner in the firm’s Brussels and Milan offices where he is a member of the Antitrust, Competition, and Trade Regulation practice group. Francesco has extensive experience in notifying mergers and joint ventures with the European Commission and national competition authorities in Europe, coordinating the notification of international transactions globally, and advising on all aspects of antitrust law, including vertical agreements, anti-cartel enforcement, collaborative arrangements, unilateral conduct, e-commerce, EU sector inquiries, public consultations, and state aid. He has been involved in some of the most high-profile and complex merger control cases, including in-depth (Phase 2) investigations and remedies. He offers compliance training and develops customized compliance programs adapted to clients' specific risk profiles. He has extensive experience in the fashion and luxury sector where he represents a number of the most iconic brands globally. He advises leading corporations in a variety of sectors including fashion and luxury, pharmaceutical, IT, digital maps, telecommunications, aviation, chemicals, liner shipping, food, dairy and automotive industries. A New York and Italian-qualified lawyer, Francesco graduated from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and received two LLMs from the College of Europe, Bruges, and Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Fulbright scholar. He is also the author of several articles on antitrust law–most recently, he was the author of the second antitrust survey on the luxury and fashion sectors, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice (2022)–and often participates as a speaker at conferences and seminars on European and Italian competition law.
Jeroen Smets is a partner in the firm’s Brussels office. He concentrates his practice on corporate, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, structured and leveraged finance matters with a particular emphasis on management buy outs and acquisition finance. Jeroen advises Belgian and foreign corporates and financial institutions on a wide range of domestic and cross-border corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets work, private equity and venture capital transactions as well as general corporate advisory work. He focuses in banking and finance related transactions including real estate and acquisition finance and structured finance, senior and mezzanine lending, security packages, and provides advice on regulatory and general banking law. He has extensive experience with coordination of cross-border transactions and the negotiation and structuring of complex leveraged buy-outs and both share- and asset deals and has acted on some of the landmark private equity deals in Belgium, including the first ever public to private transaction in the market. His client base is diverse and encompasses Belgian companies, multi-national corporations, long-established private companies and new ventures and Belgian and foreign financial institutions. Jeroen has extensive international experience and has lived and worked in Brussels, Moscow and New York.
Mélanie Bruneau is a partner in the firm's Brussels office. She advises on a broad range of areas in European Law. Her practice focuses on advising clients a variety of industrial sectors, including transport, and aviation, energy, hydrogen, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics, manufacturing, chemicals and IT on the legal aspects of their business activities, with a particular emphasis on regulatory compliance. Mélanie advises large multinationals on all aspects of EU competition law. She has significant experience in cartel investigations and sector inquiry investigations. Mélanie was also involved in the first cartel settlement and in the first hybrid cartel settlement before the European Commission. Mélanie regularly advises clients on global compliance programs regarding antitrust. She performs internal audits and compliance trainings. She frequently advises on the rules and procedures governing State aid and EU public procurement directives. In terms of compliance, Mélanie also advises on anti-corruption (including the OECD Convention, UK Bribery act and US FCPA) and on the anti-money laundering legislation. Mélanie has significant experience in advising on vertical agreements including exclusive distribution and supply as well as selective distribution and franchising. She also has lots of experience in advising on horizontal issues including joint ventures, collaboration, cooperation, R&D as well as consortium agreements. She frequently advises on resale price maintenance (RPM) and price discrimination issues on behalf of some of the largest companies in the world. Mélanie frequently advises on restrictions of active and passive sales, non compete provisions but also on termination of distribution agreements. She also advises on parallel import restrictions and more generally on free movement of goods. Mélanie regularly advises on commercial agency agreements (including on compensation and termination issues). She also advises on consumer protection legislation including unfair commercial practices as well as misleading and comparative advertising. She advises companies on distribution agreements including e-commerce cross-border issues and distribution networks in Europe. Mélanie has assisted various clients in the setting up of their commercial websites in compliance with the e-commerce, e-sign and data protection legislations. Over the past 15 years, Mélanie has developed a strong experience in a wide range of transport, aviation, ground handling and airport related matters where she advises clients on EU and French regulatory issues and complex contractual arrangements. This includes noise reduction, regulatory issues associated with the transportation of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, perishables, jewelry and high-value goods but also on slot allocation. Mélanie has advised on the emissions trading schemes (ETS) for aviation, on the guidelines for State aid to airports and airlines and on passenger rights. She also has experience in EU sanctions, customs and export controls. Mélanie is a member of the Paris and Brussels Bars. She has contributed to Practical Law Company (PLC) on international sales and marketing.
Patrice Corbiau is a founding partner in the firm’s Brussels office. His practice focuses primarily on Belgian and international corporate and commercial law. Patrice experience includes advising corporations on a wide range of corporate and commercial transactions. He frequently advises international corporations on complex M&A transactions and joint ventures having cross-border aspects. He also regularly advises on multijurisdictional commercial and contract matters, including on the drafting and negotiations of all types of commercial agreements, distribution agreements, consortium agreements, lease agreements and licensing agreements, as well as on E-commerce, fair trade practices and consumer protection in multiple EU jurisdictions. He has substantial experience in litigation and arbitration. Patrice is particularly active in the healthcare, manufacturing, transport and logistics, real estate, chemical and technology sectors.
Petr Bartoš is an associate in the firm's Brussels office. He is a member of the Antitrust, Competition, and Trade Regulation practice group. Petr is an EU trade and regulatory lawyer, with a public affairs experience. He regularly provides legal and policy advice in matters concerning EU trade, notably EU restrictive measures and export control, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and EU regulatory law, with a particular focus on digital regulation. Petr has advised clients on all sides of their international trade operations, helping them to ensure their compliance with EU trade legislation, including by assisting them with developing of internal compliance policies and processes. He also reviews prospective transactions with respect to their likelihood of affecting security or public order triggering potential FDI reviews, and coordinates multi-jurisdictional FDI notifications.