Geradin Partners

Firm Overview

Geradin Partners is a specialist competition law, competition litigation, and digital regulation firm. Founded in Brussels in 2015 by one of Europe’s leading competition and regulatory lawyers, Damien Geradin, the firm has grown rapidly, opening offices in London in 2021, and in Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Paris in 2024. With over 20 competition lawyers, Geradin Partners provides top-tier legal services to businesses valuing strategic insight and deep knowledge.

The firm is renowned for its expertise in competition law and digital regulation. It has represented clients in several landmark European and UK cases, with many of its partners having held senior positions at competition agencies.

A standout feature of the firm is its focus on the technology sector, where it has played a significant role in the development of new digital regulatory regimes in the EU and UK. Geradin Partners has deliberately chosen not to act for major tech giants such as Google, Apple, Meta, and Amazon, allowing it to provide independent, conflict-free advice, setting it apart from many other top teams.

The firm serves clients across diverse industries, including media, telecoms, gaming, pharmaceuticals, retail, finance, sports, automotive, chemicals, clean energy, and heavy industry. Geradin Partners has established a robust network within the global antitrust community, often collaborating with other law firms and being increasingly sought after for its expertise.

Main Areas of Practice

Geradin Partners focuses on three primary areas of practice:

• Competition Law:Includes competition authority investigations, merger and state aid control, and advisory work.
• Competition Litigation:Covers private damages actions and appeals against competition authority decisions.
• Digital Regulation:Encompasses the development and implementation of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the UK Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers (DMCC) regimes, and related investigations.

Competition Law

Geradin Partners has a distinguished record in guiding competition authorities to launch investigations and defending clients under investigation. The team includes former officials from the CMA and EC, offering unparalleled experience in complex cases.

In the EU, the firm has acted in high-profile European Commission (EC) antitrust investigations, including cases for O2 (network-sharing agreements) and a major news publishers’ association (Ad Tech).

In the UK, the firm has represented clients in CMA investigations into Google (Privacy Sandbox, Ad Tech, and Play Store), Apple (App Store), and Amazon (Marketplace), and advised on notable mergers such as Veolia/Suez and Microsoft/Activision.

In France, Geradin Partners represented News Corp in an investigation by the Autorité de la Concurrence (ADLC) into Google (Ad Tech), which resulted in a $220 million fine, and acted for the complainant in the ADLC’s probe into Apple (App Tracking Transparency).

The firm has significant experience in the Netherlands and Finland, advising on complex merger control proceedings and representing clients in cartel investigations, dominance cases, and regulatory matters in sectors such as telecoms, aviation, healthcare, and energy.

Competition Litigation

The firm is also recognised for its expertise in competition litigation. In the UK, Geradin Partners represents clients in multi-billion-pound class actions against Google (Ad Tech, Play Store) and Apple (App Store). It also advises on other ongoing and proposed litigation.

In the EU, the firm has led several significant Court of Justice cases, including Huawei v ZTE and Slovak Telekom v EC. Many of the firm’s partners have played key roles in shaping antitrust and state aid jurisprudence within the EU Courts.

In the Netherlands, Geradin Partners has represented clients such as Samsung and news publishers in antitrust cases before Dutch courts, while in France, it has been involved in collective actions in sectors like automotive, valued at several hundred million euros.

In Finland, the firm represents a large electricity distribution system operator in Market Court proceedings challenging national pricing regulations.

Digital Regulation

Geradin Partners is at the forefront of the development of the EU DMA and UK DMCC regimes. The team includes senior former UK CMA officials, including the director who led the Digital Markets Taskforce advising the UK Government on digital regulation.

The firm advises clients across various sectors, including broadcasters, app developers, and e-commerce platforms, on these digital regulations. Geradin Partners is a key advisor to the Coalition for App Fairness and co-founded the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition, advocating for sellers who rely on platforms like Amazon.

The firm is the only one invited to provide testimony on the DMCC regime to both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Its Platform Law Blog is a leading resource for policymakers and competition officials, and Geradin Partners is often invited to speak at conferences. The firm’s lawyers are regularly quoted in top publications such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch, and have appeared on BBC, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, and Sky News.

BRUSSELS - LONDON - AMSTERDAM - PARIS - HELSINKI

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