Belgium: Steptoe & Johnson hire boosts Brussels competition practice

Steptoe & Johnson announced Wednesday that it has hired its newest addition in Brussels to strengthen its competition practice.

According to a press release, the firm has hired EU and French antitrust lawyer Jean-Nicolas Maillard as a partner.

Maillard is qualified to practice in France and the US and, according to Steptoe & Johnson, holds 16 years of competition law experience.

Among his cases include matters of abuse of dominance, cartels and merger clearance.

Maillard will be joining the firm from Freshfields, where he has been since 2008. Before Freshfields, he was a lawyer at Linklaters.

See below for the complete press release.

Steptoe Expands Competition Practice with Addition of Jean-Nicolas Maillard

Editor’s note: Mr. Maillard joins Steptoe from Freshfields, where he practiced since 2008. He previously practiced at Linklaters from 2000-2008.

(September 3, 2014, Washington, DC) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP is expanding its trans-Atlantic competition practice with the addition of EU and French competition lawyer Jean-Nicolas Maillard as a partner in the firm’s Brussels office.

Mr. Maillard, who is dual qualified in France and the United Kingdom, brings 16 years of experience practicing competition law in London and Paris at Magic Circle firms. He has advised French, English, and international clients on a wide array of sensitive antitrust matters, including defending them in numerous cartel and antitrust investigations and litigation (including “dawn raids”), and in abuse of dominance cases, obtaining EU and national merger control approvals in many strategic corporate transactions, and advising them on compliance and distribution law. Mr. Maillard has had the opportunity to advise businesses active in diverse product and services markets such as food, retail and consumer, technology, financial, private equity, construction products, agriculture, and pharmaceutical sectors.

“Jean-Nicolas brings first-rate experience in all areas of competition law including transactional, advisory, and litigation,” said Phil West, chair of Steptoe. “He will strengthen the EU, French, and UK competition capabilities we offer for clients involved in mergers or facing price-fixing investigations in Europe. His addition reflects our firm’s commitment to the development of our EU practice.”

“Steptoe has an excellent trans-Atlantic team of antitrust lawyers who work very well together on investigations conducted in parallel by authorities in multiple jurisdictions,” said Mr. Maillard. “The team’s collegiality, entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to clients make it the ideal environment to further develop my practice. On a personal note, I particularly look forward to joining my friend and former colleague, Yves Botteman, in Brussels.”

Mr. Maillard joins a team of nine competition lawyers in Brussels and London. The team delivers creative, cost-effective, and practical counselling in cartels, unilateral conduct and merger cases before the European Commission, the EU courts, and national competition authorities and courts. According to the Legal 500 EMEA, “Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s competition practice is valued for its ‘very thorough fact finding and legal analysis.”

Mr. Maillard is admitted to the Paris bar and a qualified UK solicitor. He obtained a law degree and a master in business law in France and holds a British post-graduate diploma in legal practice as well as a post-graduate diploma in EU competition law from King’s College, London.

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