Global law firm White & Case LLP has expanded its Global Antitrust Practice with the addition of Michael Engel as a partner in London. Michael joins White & Case from Kirkland & Ellis, where he was a partner.
“In recent years we have seen a toughening approach by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in both merger control and cases relating to alleged anti-competitive conduct. That trend will only continue with new legislation proposed, which, coupled with the increasing intervention by the CMA, is leading to growing client demand,” said White & Case partner Mark Gidley, Head of the Global Antitrust Practice. “Last year we acted in two of the three Phase 2 mergers to be unconditionally cleared by the CMA, and Michael’s arrival further strengthens our ability to support our clients in London and globally as they respond to these challenges.”
Michael advises on complex multi-jurisdictional mergers requiring merger control approval from the CMA, European Commission and other regulators around the world, and foreign direct investment approvals. He also advises on contentious antitrust matters, including cartel, abuse of dominance and state aid investigations, as well as follow-on damages actions before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal and national EU member state courts and appeals of European Commission decisions to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
“Michael has a real breadth of experience covering UK antitrust matters,” said White & Case partner James Killick, Regional Section Head EMEA Competition. “His addition in London will provide added strength and depth to our team there and he will also work closely with our market-leading competition team more widely across Europe.”
Partner Oliver Brettle, a member of White & Case’s global Executive Committee, said: “We are continuing to grow carefully and strategically to meet our clients’ needs. We have seen demand for antitrust advice in London and, indeed, across EMEA increase in recent years. In the UK, as its standalone competition regime develops, our need for UK-specific antitrust advice has grown markedly on that basis and due to the expansion of our transactional practices and high transaction volumes, as evidenced by our ranking for UK M&A in 2022 by Mergermarket and Bloomberg. Michael’s experience makes him a great addition to support our clients.”
White & Case is ranked third in GCR 100, Global Competition Review’s list of the leading 100 competition practices globally, and has been ranked consistently highly for the past five years.
