Robert Neruda

Robert Neruda leads the firm’s team of lawyers and economists specialising in competition law and co-manages the firm’s Brno office. He advises clients on cartels, abuse of dominance, merger control, FDI, FSR, and competition compliance.

He is widely recognised as a leading expert in competition law by respected legal directories, including Legal 500 and Lexology. In 2017, he was one of only six lawyers to receive the Innovative Lawyer of the Year award, while Global Competition Review named him a Thought Leader. Since 2023, he has been ranked for the third consecutive year as a Global Elite Thought Leader, an honour reserved for just 5% of all lawyers listed by Lexology (formerly Who’s Who Legal). He is also the only attorney from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the broader CEE region (excluding Austria and Ukraine) to have received this prestigious recognition multiple times.

Before joining HAVEL & PARTNERS, Robert spent eight years at the Czech competition authority, the Office for the Protection of Competition. He worked first in the International Department and later served as Director of the Analytical Department, Deputy Chief Director, and Vice-Chairman. In 2009, he was appointed Acting Chairman of the Office. He also worked as an assistant to a judge at the Czech Supreme Administrative Court and chaired appellate committees dealing with antitrust, mergers, and public procurement.

Robert practises in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He is a co-author of leading commentaries on the Czech Competition Act, the Act on Significant Market Power and public procurement law and has published numerous professional articles. He also lectures at Masaryk University in Brno and regularly speaks at international conferences.

Czech Bar Association

Slovak Bar Association

International Bar Association

Robert regularly contributes to the antitrust section of HAVEL & PARTNERS’ BLOG: Competition | HAVEL & PARTNERS (havelpartners.blog)