For further information about our COMPETITION practice Dr Christian Karbaum is at your disposal at any time.
Our antitrust team accompanies clients as parties or third parties in merger control proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission as well as in foreign direct investment (FDI) control proceedings before the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
Through our worldwide network of leading law firms, we also coordinate merger control and foreign direct investment (FDI) control filings in third countries for our clients. Recently, we have been advising in the following cases, for example:
Our firm represents a large number of companies and members of management bodies in cartel investigations before the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission.
In this context, we guide companies through the investigation stage, advise on the strategic decision whether to submit a leniency application and work with our clients to develop a defence strategy. Through our international network of law firms we are able to also coordinate leniency applications worldwide.
Recently, GLADE MICHEL WIRTZ has been involved in the following cases, amongst others, which have also been the subject of attention from the general public:
Food retail, meat and sausages, confectionery, coffee, mills, industrial chemicals, rail technology, mining technology, silo mortar, polyurethane foam, plastic packaging for food, power transformers, drugstore articles, concrete pipes, paving stones, automatic doors, industrial insurances, luxury cosmetics, personal hygiene products, heat-shielding sheets or steel purchasing
We also represent our clients in investigations regarding the abuse of a dominant market position before the European Commission and the Federal Cartel Office.
Where undertakings have a certain degree of market power, they are subject to restrictions on their conduct which do not apply to other market participants. As a result, their purchasing and distribution strategies, as well as contract, pricing and discount structures, must meet specific requirements, in particular regarding non-discrimination and the prohibition of impediments.
We therefore support clients with a strong market position in making full use of existing leeway and in complying with the requirements of the prohibition of abuse in day-to-day business. Conversely, companies may be affected by abusive conduct on the part of third parties. In this respect, we advise our clients on asserting their interests against companies with a strong market position in negotiations and, if necessary, by submitting complaints to the antitrust authorities.
Recent matters we worked on in this area concerned, for example, the wind power industry, energy services, automotive suppliers, online sales, player agencies or the licensing of standard essential patents.
One focus of our advisory services in the area of competition law is antitrust litigation.
We represent clients in appeals against fining and administrative decisions, for example in merger control cases before the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission. In the area of civil law we are primarily active in defending and asserting claims for cartel damages (follow-on damages) as well as in the context of asserting claims against companies with a dominant market position.
For further details, please refer to the Litigation section.
We advise our clients in specific occasions (for example, following the discovery of a violation of antitrust law) and preventively in the development, structuring, implementation and support of compliance management systems.
An important component of our preventive advice is the definition of appropriate prevention processes and the preparation of risk-adjusted compliance documentation, which documents measures to mitigate compliance risks and also contains antitrust guidelines for employees. Our advisory service includes trainings (in person or electronically) for executives and other employees active in risk areas.
Compliance for associations is also an important part of our work, because association work involves increased antitrust risks both for the associations and their members. We therefore provide ongoing advice to associations and members of associations on compliance issues and with regard to meetings in order to ensure conduct in compliance with antitrust law.
For further details, please refer to the Compliance section.