Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP today announced that
Philipp Girardet will join the firm as a partner to set up the antitrust and competition practice
in the firm’s London office.
Mr. Girardet advises on a broad range of EU and UK competition law, competition litigation
and regulatory issues across numerous industry sectors. He has particular experience in the
areas of mergers, cartels, dominance cases and competition litigation, often involving
complex cross-border and intellectual property-related issues. He also has experience in
advising on UK criminal cartel investigations.
“Philipp’s facility and deep experience with both EU and UK competition law will further
expand Willkie’s litigation, enforcement and compliance capabilities in London,”
commented Peter Burrell, Managing Partner of Willkie’s London office.
Jacques-Philippe Gunther, Head of the firm’s European Competition and Antitrust practice,
added: “The addition of Philipp, a highly respected UK-qualified competition practitioner,
together with a strong existing competition team across the firm’s European and U.S. offices,
is another major step in our strategy to develop a first class platform for complex European
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merger, investigation and litigation matters; it follows our recent hiring of a top German
antitrust partner Suzanne Zuehlke last year.”
“I am excited to join Willkie,” said Mr. Girardet. “The firm’s leading competition and
litigation capabilities are well recognized across many markets. I am looking forward to
joining Willkie’s impressive antitrust and competition team, expanding the team’s already
strong European footprint beyond France, Germany and Brussels to the UK market.”
From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Girardet was the Deputy Director of the Cartels branch of the UK
competition authority (then the Office of Fair Trading), where he was primarily responsible
for civil cartel cases and for developing and operating the authority’s leniency policy. During
that period, he co-chaired the Leniency Working Group of the European Competition
Network (ECN). He also worked closely with the European Commission, the U.S.
Department of Justice and the OECD Competition Section on competition policy and
enforcement issues.
Mr. Girardet holds a B.A. (hons.) from the University of Oxford and a C.E.P. degree from
Sciences Po (Paris).
