Firm aims to focus on antitrust and competition issues and anticipates expansion.
By Kevin Livingston
Germany’s Noerr has opened a Brussels office with six attorneys
German law firm Noerr announced that it has opened a Brussels office to better serve clients in areas related to antitrust and competition issues, including state aid, but also to advise clients in markets impacted by European lawmaking.
Heading the new office, according to the firm, will be Dominik Wendel from Frankfurt along with five other attorneys. The firm has said that further expansion is already being planned. Trade and distribution law will also be a key component of the office, said Wendell, who advises automotive manufacturers and suppliers and is among the leading European experts in distribution law, according to the firm.”
“The expertise of the Noerr Brussels team ensures that, apart from providing comprehensive advice on antitrust and competition, state aid and distribution law, regulatory questions can be dealt within close cooperation with colleagues from the German and Central and Eastern European Noerr offices,” Wendell said in a press release.
“Being in Brussels ensures that we are best placed to represent our clients in proceedings before the EU Commission,”
The EU Commission in Brussels.
said Alexander Birnstiel, head of Noerr’s Antitrust and Competition group, who will work both from Brussels and Munich.
Partners Alexander Israel and Helge Heinrich will be in Brussels advising on antitrust and competition law as well as state aid law issues, the firm said. In addition, the Co-Head of Noerr’s China Desk, Hui Zhao, will work both from Frankfurt and Brussels advising Chinese companies on entry to the European market.
“Brussels has great significance for us”, explained Tobias Bürgers, co-speaker of the firm. “We are strengthening our long-term advisory capacity in strategic growth areas of the firm”. In addition to antitrust and competition law, the importance of advising companies in regulated industries such as aviation, banking, energy, media, telecommunication and insurance has significantly increased in recent years for Noerr. “We are also improving our service in M&A transactions in the regulated industries,” Bürgers said.
With almost 500 lawyers, Noerr operates in Europe and the United States and also has a China desk. The firm most recently opened office in London and Alicante. Alongside five offices in Germany, the firm has six offices in Central and Eastern Europe and is also represented in New York.
“All of our offices are integrated and Brussels will also work seamlessly with our German practice and our offices in London, New York, Central and Eastern Europe including Noerr’s China desk,” added Co-Speaker Alexander Ritvay. “Since Brussels is increasingly important as a regulatory centre, Asian investors in particular see the provision of advice from the jurisdiction as vital.”
Kevin Livingston is the editor-in-chief of GC Grapevine Magazine and can be reached at Kevin.livingston@gcgrapevine.com
