Latham & Watkins houses a comprehensive EU and competition law practice, with a particularly strong offering in the field of merger control, where the team has extensive experience in EU phase II clearances; its impressive recent caseload includes working alongside the Brussels office to advise Orange on a pending phase II merger review. The team’s expertise also extends to high-profile abuse of dominance and cartel investigations and related litigation, frequently representing clients in cases at the national and European levels. Jacques-Philippe Gunther, the vice-chair of the global antitrust and competition practice, is widely regarded as a market leader in merger control and contentious antitrust matters. Adrien Giraud, who divides his time between Paris and Brussels, and Mathilde Saltiel are also standout names in the team.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The Latham & Watkins team delivers remarkable work: in-depth knowledge of the sector and its challenges, very good strategic sense and solid legal knowledge. The team is also very pleasant, which greatly facilitates interactions.’
‘Jacques-Philippe Gunther is a daring lawyer, a fine strategist who seeks (and finds!) the idea that no one had thought of.'
'Mathilde Saltiel is very good technically and knows her files perfectly. Her interpersonal skills are also exceptional and she manages to communicate well with our operational teams.’
'Mathilde Saltiel stands out for her understanding of our group's activities and her responsiveness.'
Key clients
- Orange
- GRAIL
- EssilorLuxottica
- Canal+
- Worldline
- PAI Partners
- SAUR
- TDF
- Ingram Micro
- L’Oréal
- Refresco
- Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
- CMA CGM
- Michelin
- Thales
Work highlights
- Advising Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. on its demerger with Renault and the setting up of a new collaboration scheme with Renault Group, as well as obtaining global merger control and FDI clearances in connection to its change of control within joint ventures with Renault Group.
- Obtained a fine reduction of more than €40 million for Ingram Micro in its appeal to the Paris Court of Appeal against the decision of the French Competition Authority to impose a fine on Apple and its wholesalers Ingram Micro and Tech Data for agreeing on the allocation of clients of the two wholesalers.
- Assisting Orange in the pending Phase II merger review in relation to the €18.6 billion JV with MásMóvil.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
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Leading partners
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Next Generation Partners
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Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Jacques-Philippe Gunther