LAWYER PROFILE

Michael Rosenthal

Global 2026

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Ranked in 2 practice areas

Competition: EU

Belgium

7 years ranked

Competition: EU

Belgium

4 years ranked

Competition/European Law: Lawyers Based Abroad

Germany

2 years ranked

About

Provided by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Practice Areas

European and German Competition Law

Career

Dr. Michael Rosenthal, the founder of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Brussels office and co-head of the firm’s global antitrust group, advises clients on all aspects of EU and German competition law before the European Commission and the German competition authority and courts, as well as the European courts.

In his over 20 years of practice, Dr. Rosenthal has advised clients on a significant number of the largest global transactions, as well as complex cartel and abuse of dominance investigations and related litigation. Dr. Michael Rosenthal is the co-author of the EU merger control treatise Rosenthal/Thomas - European Merger Control (C.H. Beck).

Personal

Michael Rosenthal earned his LLM degree from Columbia Law School, his 1st and 2nd State Exams as well as his Dr. iur. (summa cum laude) from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität School of Law in Mainz and a French-German Business Law Degree from Université de Bourgogne School of Law in Dijon.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Chambers Global Guide

Competition: EU - Belgium

Band 4

Individual Editorial

Michael Rosenthal heads Sullivan & Cromwell's competition team and leads sophisticated merger control and behavioural matters that involve interaction with the EC. Standout mandates include his defence of clients in EC behavioural investigations into alleged cartel activities. Splitting his time between the firm's offices in Belgium and Germany, he also has notable experience assisting clients with notifying mergers before the German authorities.

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Competition/European Law: Lawyers Based Abroad - Germany

Germany, expertise based abroad in Belgium

Individual Editorial

Michael Rosenthal heads Sullivan & Cromwell's competition team and has a strong focus on merger control and FDI filings. Splitting his time between the firm's offices in Belgium and Germany, he has notable experience in assisting clients with notifying mergers before the German authorities. He also assists clients with requests for information and competition law compliance.

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Competition: EU - Belgium

Foreign expert in Germany

Individual Editorial

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Strengths

Provided by Chambers

Michael Rosenthal sees the big picture and considers all aspects of transactions and other cases, while being pragmatic.
Competition: EUChambers Global Guide
Michael Rosenthal has both deep legal knowledge and a very developed commercial acumen.
Competition: EUChambers Global Guide
Michael Rosenthal is a knowledgeable and well-experienced lawyer.
Competition: EUChambers Global Guide
Michael Rosenthal is super responsive. His written work products are very concise and offer a crisp analysis.
Competition: EUChambers Global Guide
Michael Rosenthal is very experienced, really likeable and a really nice person. He is extremely experienced, really good in negotiations and has outstanding legal expertise.
Competition/European Law: Lawyers Based AbroadChambers Global Guide
He is knowledgeable and experienced.
Competition/European Law: Lawyers Based AbroadChambers Global Guide

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