Germany/Europe: Current Developments in German and European Antitrust Law

Dr. Nicolas Kredel chairs Baker McKenzie's EMEA Antitrust & Competition Practice Group as well as the Firm’s global Future Mobility Group, he co-heads Baker McKenzie's German / Austrian antitrust practice and co-heads the Firm’s global Competition economics group. Nicolas has more than 15 years' experience advising on antitrust and competition law and is based in the Firm's Dusseldorf office. A seasoned antitrust lawyer, Nicolas is consistently recommended in various legal directories, including Chambers, Legal 500 and JUVE. He was awarded the ILO Client Choice Award three times in 2016, 2018 and 2020 for Antitrust (Germany).

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Prof. Dr. Christian Burholt is a partner in the Firm's Berlin office. He has more than 18 years of experience representing German and international clients in antitrust, leniency, dominance, and merger control law matters. In addition, he is Head of the Firm's German Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Group and member of the EMEA Healthcare & Life Sciences Steering Committee. Christian has been consistently recommended in various legal directories, including JUVE, Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers in Germany, Legal 500, Expert Guides Life Sciences and Who’s Who Legal, for his antitrust, merger control, pharma, medtech and healthcare work. Christian is admitted to the Berlin bar and a member of the German Association of Antitrust Lawyers and the Network Compliance. He is an honorary professor for antitrust law at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin) and regularly lectures and publishes on antitrust and merger control topics.

Katharina Spenner is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Munich office and a member of the Firm's Steering Committee of the EMEA International Commercial & Trade Practice Group. She joined the Firm's Frankfurt office in 2000 and transferred to the Munich office in 2004. She was seconded to the Amsterdam office for eight months in 2003. Katharina previously worked as a freelancer in the legal department of Lufthansa Cargo AG from 1997 to 1999. She has written several commentaries on competition and distribution law and regularly delivers presentations and workshops on topics related to distribution and competition law.

Dr. Anika Schürmann is a Partner in Baker McKenzie’s Dusseldorf office. She is a bar-certified professional in criminal law (Fachanwältin für Strafrecht) and has extensive experience in advising in all antitrust and white collar crime related matters. She is admitted to the Dusseldorf bar and is a member of the German White Collar Crime Association, the Criminal Law Section of the German Bar Association, the Criminal Law Commission of the German Women Lawyers Association, the Association of Female Lawyers in White Collar Crime and Criminal Tax Law as well as the German Association of Antitrust Lawyers. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie in 2013, Anika was a member of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s antitrust team (2007-2011), and practiced at Wessing & Partner, a Dusseldorf law firm that specializes in white collar crime law (2012-2013). Anika's antitrust and criminal law expertise has repeatedly been recognized by The Legal 500, the renowned German business magazine Handelsblatt has ranked her as one of Germany's Best Antitrust Lawyers since 2020 while the renowned German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche ranks her as one of Germany's Best Compliance Lawyers.

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Dr. Jonas S. Brueckner is a counsel in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. He joined the Firm in 2014 and advises on antitrust and competition law. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Dr. Brueckner was a member of the Brussels-based antitrust team of another international law firm from 2010 to 2014, and a government official (Regierungsrat) at Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs in Berlin from 2009 to 2010.

Jan Kresken, a partner, practices in the area of competition law, especially in the automotive, chemicals, pharmaceutical and (re)insurance sectors. He holds a degree in law from the Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster (University of Muenster) and a master’s degree (LL.M.) in competition law, economics, and policy from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. After his studies, he began his PhD in competition law at the University of Muenster. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, he worked as research assistant for Clifford Chance in Duesseldorf and as pupil barrister in the area of competition law for the German Bundeskartellamt (federal cartel office) and the firms Clifford Chance in Duesseldorf and Dierks & Bohle in Berlin.

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Dr. Steffen Scheuer is a member of the Firm’s European Labor Law and Global Labor Law practice groups. He is experienced in all aspects of employment law and compliance matters. Dr. Scheuer’s dissertation on stock options was awarded the Price of Honors by the Employers Association for the Metal Industry. He regularly delivers speeches for Baker McKenzie’s clients on employment law and compliance issues, and conducts management trainings in labor law and compliance policies. Dr. Scheuer also practiced in the Firm’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices.

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Prof. Dr. Michael Schmidl is co-head of the German Information Technology Group and is based in Baker McKenzie's Munich office. He is an honorary professor at the University of Augsburg and specialist lawyer for information technology law (Fachanwalt für IT-Recht). He advises in all areas of contentious and non-contentious information technology law, including internet, computer/software, data privacy and media law. Michael also has a general commercial law background and has profound experience in the drafting and negotiation of outsourcing contracts and in carrying out compliance projects.

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Anahita Thoms heads Baker McKenzie's International Trade Practice in Germany and is a member of our EMEA Steering Committee for Compliance & Investigations. Anahita is Global Lead Sustainability Partner for our Industrials, Manufacturing and Transportation Industry Group. She serves as an Advisory Board Member in profit and non-profit organizations, such as Atlantik-Brücke, and is an elected National Committee Member at UNICEF Germany. She has served for three consecutive terms as the ABA Co-chair of the Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee and as the ABA Vice-Chair of the International Human Rights Committee. Anahita has also been an Advisory Board Member (Beirätin) of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the German Government.

Anahita has won various accolades for her work, including 100 Most Influential Women in German Business (manager magazin), Top Lawyer (Wirtschaftswoche), Winner of the Strive Awards in the category Sustainability, Pioneer in the area of sustainability (Juve), International Trade Lawyer of the Year (Germany) 2020 ILO Client Choice Awards, Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Capital 40 under 40, International Trade Lawyer of the Year (New York) 2016 ILO Client Choice Awards. In 2023, Handelsblatt recognized her as one of Germany’s Dealmaker and “most sought after advisors of the country” in the field of sustainability.

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Katja Häferer joined the Munich office of Baker McKenzie in January 2009. She is a member of the Firm’s European and Global Labor Law practice groups. She advises domestic and multinational companies on employment law matters, including outsourcing and other transactions. Katja frequently speaks at in-house and external seminars, and conducts training on a wide range of employment matters. She also practiced in the Firm’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices.

Dr. Jakub Lorys is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Corporate/M&A Practice Group in Munich. He has numerous years of experience in all areas of M&A transactions for both corporate and private equity clients. Prior to joining the Firm, Jakub worked for one of the leading German law firms. In 2017, he worked one year for Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City.

Florian Tannen is a partner in the Munich office of Baker McKenzie with more than 10 years of experience. He advises on all areas of contentious and non-contentious information technology law, including internet, computer/software and in particular data privacy law. Before joining the Firm, Florian worked for two major law firms and a large US-based technology company.

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Nina Niejahr is a senior counsel in the Firm's Brussels-based EU Competition & Regulatory Affairs Practice. She has over 20 years of experience in advising clients on all aspects of EU law, focusing on State aid and competition law. Nina is ranked by Chambers for her State aid practice and listed by Who's Who Legal and the German JUVE directory as recommended/"oft empfohlen". Nina also regularly litigates in the EU Courts in Luxembourg. She has published and speaks at seminars and conferences on a variety of topics of EU State aid law and litigation.

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Dr. Alexander Ehrle is a member of the Firm's International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. Alexander studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Montpellier (France), Mainz, Munich and New York (NYU) specializing in Public International and European Law. He worked as advisor and member of a delegation of a developing country at the United Nations before qualifying for the German bar. He spent his clerkship with the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin and Tokyo as well as an international law firm in Frankfurt and Milan. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the structural changes of public international law and their conceptualization in academic discourse basing his research on the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Alexander is admitted to practice in Germany and New York. 

Alexander co-chairs the Business & Human Rights Committee of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section and has been recognized as one of 40 under 40 lawyers worldwide for foreign investment control by the Global Competition Review.

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