IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

The European competition arena has seen some notable activity and developments in the last 12 months and firms notice a different flavour to the Commission under its new head Joaquín Almunia.

"Almunia is bright, very different from his predecessor, a more macroeconomic approach, spending more time on issues to resolve cases and the tone is very different, more pragmatic," says one partner. Consensus is that the commission has narrowed its focus but deepened its investigations into each case. Through 2010, the commission also implemented new settlement procedures and has been tweaking guidelines on collective redress, horizontal agreements and information exchange.

Merger activity was lower than in the past, though firms note that strategic mergers and acquisitions have been alive and kicking, while private equity only started to revive in mid-2011. Europe however saw some large and interesting M&A referred to the commission, notably McAfee's acquisition of Intel, International Power's joint-venture with EDF Energy, Merck's acquisition of Millipore, Sun Microsystem's acquisition of Oracle, Solvay's acquisition of Rhodia and the looming merger of the NYSE and Deutsche Borse.

The cartel side provided a lot of work, with EU Commission investigations into the air freight market, LCD screens, online search marketing, detergents and the banana market in particular producing a glut of cases.

Private damages claims have also produced a substantial amount of work. "Private enforcement and damage claims, it is only over last one or two years that these cases are starting to become really routine... over the last year I can't think of any cartel case we were involved in that did not have a private damage angle," says one peer.

The new settlement procedure was tested in a number of cases, namely by Toshiba, Infineon Technologies and NEC Corporation. Some partners argue that the incentive to settle still needs to be increased for the system to work properly. As it stands parties can achieve a 10% reduction in fines if they admit liability and settle, when in many cases this just is not worth it.

In the legal market itself, the dissolution of tier two ranked firm Howrey has been the biggest development. Partners have been distributed around the market benefiting a number of firms.

Cleary is consistently named as a clear leader in EU competition, with a handful of its partners regularly mentioned by the market, above all Antoine Winckler. "Winckler is an outstanding EU competition lawyer, spot on," says a peer.

Nick Levy and Robbert Snelders also get regular nods of approval. "Snelders certainly has a very good reputation," says a peer, while Levy comes top for merger work. Maurits Dolmans, who recently moved to London, Romano Subiotto and Francisco Enrique González-Díaz also have strong reputations.

"It is a very, very good firm, they have some excellent individuals - it is a clear market leader; a very strong practice overall," says a peer. But for quality you have to pay a premium: "I would say that Cleary is the best in Europe in this practice area but they are extremely expensive, so we use them on a need to basis... it can be the difference between using a bus and a sports car," says one client.

In recent matters, the firm advised Abbott on its €4.5 billion acquisition of Solvay's pharmaceuticals business, BNP Paribas on the merger control and state aid aspects of its 74.9% acquisition of the failed bank Fortis and ExxonMobil on its $41 billion acquisition of XTO Energy. At the time of writing, one topical competition mandate was González-Díaz's role advising News Corp on its acquisition bid for BskyB. Elsewhere the firm was advising Nyse Euronext on its merger with Deutsche Börse.

Cleary also got a string of mandates in cartel investigations in the pharmaceutical, LCD panels, refrigerator, power cable and polyurethane foam markets. In one, Mario Sirgusa helped Dow Chemical contest a €65 million fine by the Commission while Winckler defended Lafarge against a €250 million fine.

Freshfields keeps its position in the top tier. "An excellent firm, breadth and depth everywhere," says a peer.

The firm has a good group of partners who are well known amongst the leading practitioners, among them John Davies (who became practice group leader in 2010), David Broomhall, Frank Montag, Michael Esser (on the German side), Andreas von Bonin (an expert in state aid) and Laurent Garzaniti (on the Belgian side).

The firm's most prestigious work over the past year saw Esser achieve full immunity for Chiquita in the Commission's cartel investigation into the banana market and successfully guide NEC Corporation through the Commission's new cartel settlement process, culminating in the first ever settlement under new rules in a core cartel case.

In other work, Alan Ryan managed to get Emirates (airline) excluded from the Commission air cargo cartel investigation and assisted Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air on merger control issues.

Broomhall advised Rosneft on its €12 billion alliance with BP and Davies acted for Blue Sky consortium, a group comprising ArcelorMittal, Nyrstar, Solvay, Tessenderlo Chemie and others, on a proposed joint investment with Electrabel. Garzaniti advised for Solvay on its €3.4 billion acquisition of Rhodia.

Overall the team played active roles in cartel cases, merger review processes, state aid cases (for clients including ING and Volvo), behavioural and regulatory cases and public affairs matters.

Linklaters continues to be a market leader. Its global network, high profile mandates and quality of individuals continue to provide clients with top quality service. Among the market's best are Wolfgang Deselaers and Gerwin Van Gerven.

One client says of Deselaers: "He was innovative in taking a very proactive, very strategic approach and using innovative ways of finding solutions." Another says that he was "excellent, very well connected; he does not just take into account the case but looks at where the law is going. He has very good general ecommerce knowledge [and] a good feel for the industry."

Competitors argue that the firm has not been without its problems and office closures in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the loss of some key partners in Brussels has marred its reputation, if only ephemerally. One of the market's high profile moves saw senior partner and former head of the global practice Eric Burnside leave to head the new office of US firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft. Johan Isavin also resigned from the partnership. The firm made no moves to replace the partners but hired an extra four juniors.

Throughout 2010-2011, Bernd Meyring and a cross-border team was advising Sanofi-Aventis on a $16.5 billion joint-venture with Merck to create the world's largest animal health company. Until it was abandoned due to opposition from regulators, London-based Gavin Robert and van Gerven were advising Rio Tinto on a $116 billion joint venture with BHP Billiton on anti-trust matters in the EU and Asia.

On the cartel side, the firm was advising BP on investigations into the fuel retail market, a global French manufacturer on cartel fines imposed by the ECC (European Competition Commission) and a global skin care company on a multi-jurisdictional cartel investigation.

"In my experience it is clear blue water between them and the others, they are much more proactive," says a client, while another adds: "They are innovative in the sense that they look for commercial solutions [and their] knowledge is excellent; unparalleled as far as firms go."

The fact that it is not a global firm seems to give it some advantages: "They are the most flexible of the law firms that we deal with," says a client. One competitor agrees and argues that "they are excellent with their network, you can go to [best friend firms] Uría Menéndez, or go to De Brauw, it works: it is a very flexible organisation which can adapt". On the other hand this also gives the firm a very Eurocentric approach: "In terms of quality and commerciality they are on a par with the magic circle firms [but] they are more Eurocentric, more London / Brussels -focused, whereas the others are more global," says a client.

As well as the leading lawyers, clients praise Chris Wright and Isabel Taylor for being "very good and willing to put clients' interest ahead of everything without prejudice" and "available 24/7". Sarah Cardell and Philippe Chappatte receive the thumbs up: "Certainly very optimistic in such a challenging context, and managing to maintain the optimistic approach throughout."

In recent work, John Boyce, Bertrand Louveaux and William Sibree were busy advising British Airways before the Commission and the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on its $7 billion alliance with American Airlines and merger with Iberia and the Commission's investigations into airfreight cartel and passenger fuel surcharges. The firm was successful in all three.

Other UK clients included Asda and the Irish government owned electricity company ESB.

In non-UK client work, Claire Jeffs advised Google on an Article 102 investigation by the Commission and global chemicals group Ineos on a joint-venture application, while Boyce assisted McAfee on its acquisition by Intel and Reckitt Benckiser on its acquisition of SSL International.

Allen & Overy has an especially strong five-partner team in Brussels under Dirk Arts, within a global EU Competition team spanning 18 countries.

Arts is described by one client as "very innovative and imaginative ... quite flexible and very responsive". London-based Simon Pritchard also receives praise: "He is an absolutely excellent lawyer," says a peer. Meanwhile, the Paris office is described as "really on top of their game" by another peer, who picks out partner Michel Struys and associate Lilliana Eskenazi.

Some commentators argue that the firm is stronger in the Brussels market than in the wider European arena, however many clients attest to its ability across the continent. "Going through London we have worked with the firm over a number of jurisdictions and they are fantastic," says a client.

Other attributes are the firm's client care and thorough work: "I always feel A&O consider us an important client, we are treated like VIPs even by the high ranking experts. I would say we have a professional friendship", says a client. Compared to other firms, says another, "I would say that A&O is more detailed more careful; they resolve the case without creating any difficulties for the client."

On merger control cases, Philip Mansfield and Michael Reynolds helped Sun Microsystems secure unconditional phase II approval by the Commission on its $7 billion merger with Oracle, which also needed clearance in 16 other jurisdictions, while Martin Bechtold and Pritchard helped Novartis secure one of the largest ever phase I approvals by the Commission on its $40 billion acquisition of Alcon, in which 19 other competition authorities were involved.

The firm also acted for Procter & Gamble in an EU-wide investigation into the laundry powder detergent sector, which also involved Unilever, Henkel and others. A&O won a 10% fine reduction that was further reduced by 50% after the client cooperated with the investigation.

Ashurst's EU competition practice is led by Nigel Parr. "He is an outstanding lawyer, always calm, completely unflappable, knows everything inside out, really excellent - if I had a problem I would go to him," says a competitor.

Julian Ellison also receives high praise from clients: "He is innovative and does not just do what you ask him, he is very good at pushing to make things happen; he is good at thinking." According to a second client Ellison "is excellent and has very good knowledge of our business". The firm recently went through a process of decentralisation of its European network and shows good growth figures as a result.

In notable cases, Ellison helped Candover Investment and Ontex file a merger notification for its €1.2 billion sale of Ontex subsidiary Candover Partners (hygienic disposals company) to private equity firms Goldman Sachs PIA and TPG Capital. As well as being one of Belgium's biggest ever private equity deals, the transaction required a number of clearances in European and Asian countries.

Alexandre Vandeneasteele led a team advising Colgate Palmolive on merger control matters for its €672 million acquisition of Sanex, which came as a direct result of the Commission forcing Unilever to divest. Denis Waelbroek advised Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica on the notification of the €206 million sale of its animal health division to Elanco, which involved parallel filings in Latin America.

A fourth interesting deal saw Ellison advise US company Millpore on its merger notification to the Commission on its €5.2 billion sale to Merck, a deal which also involving clearance in Asia and the Americas.

Clifford Chance keeps its position in tier two this year. In 2010 the firm added a new partner in Alastair Mordaunt, a director at the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT), while John Osborne withdrew to a consultancy role. 2010 also saw the firm add Babcock to its list of clients.

The firm was especially busy on merger work through 2010. In highlight cases, Thomas Vinje led a team to successfully help Oracle receive phase II clearance for its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems, overcoming strong objections by competitors.

Leading lawyer Tony Reeves advised Citigroup on its acquisition of EMI, which obtained clearance in Japan as well as in Europe after the Commission granted a delay to allow for debt restructurings, while Frances Dethmers and Miguel Odriozola advised Iberia on its merger with British Airways, obtaining approval in July 2010 in 13 jurisdictions including the EU. It is the first time the commission has approved such a large airline merger at the first phase.

Oliver Bretz advised International Power on its combination with EDF Suez and Greg Olson advised new client Babcock International on an acquisition procedure that required clearance for some sensitive defence issues.

Gleiss Lutz's EU competition practice is spread between Stuttgart (the bulk of its merger team), Brussels (where the main state aid experts sit), Munich, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. The firm has an especially strong track record with German clients, which has involved it in some of the highest profile state aid cases resulting from the financial crisis.

The firm also has an alliance with Herbert Smith and Stibbe, which is able to work jointly on certain cases.

According to one client, Gleiss Lutz was "very proactive and result orientated". Ulrich Soltész is recommended by one client who says: "He can see the legal case as well as the academic legal problem; he was very thorough in a much specialised complex area of law."

Both the Austrian and German governments have recently turned to Gleiss Lutz on state aid cases.

In recent work, the firm acted for Infineon Technologies in a Commission investigation into DRAM chips, resulting in on of the first settlements under the new settlement procedures, and also helped the company get clearance on the $1.1 billion sale of its wireless solutions business.

In on-going work, the firm was advising Duravit in an appeal against fines resulting from investigations into the bathroom fittings business, and Commerzbank on state aid matters regarding an €11 billion capital increase.

In three separate cases the firm was also mandated by German news agencies ddp and DAPD, WestLB and Deutsche Solar on state aid matters.

Hogan Lovells was formed in May 2010 following the merger of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells and the competition team has a global partnership of 45, growing by three over the past year. The firm has a number of key regular clients, among them Alstom.

"Very good service, very happy to work with them, we now do all our EU comp law with them," says one client. One client, for whom the firm obtained 13 notifications worldwide, says the team's "work was of excellent quality".

"It is a very good team of very high quality lawyers," says another client, "it is very dedicated and makes a great effort to know your business." Brussels-based Jacques Derenne "knows perfectly well his business, he has got the right connections, knows when to pull strings and when it is needed to do that... [and was] very involved in what our company is about", says a client. Counsel Alix Müller-Rappard also receives commendations.

The firm, led by Derenne and Müller-Rappard, advised Alstom in its phase one merger clearance for its acquisition of the transmission's business of Areva T&D form Areva. Another deal saw Derenne, Christopher Thomas and others successfully defend Korean Air in an investigation into air cargo carriers.

In a third deal, Brussels partner Matthew Levitt led a global team to advise Citi Infrastructure Investors on its $1.5 billion acquisition in DP World's Australian shipping business.

Active practitioners on the highest profile mandates also included Warsaw-based Robert Gago, Düsseldorf's Martin Sura and Suyong Kim.

"Very good people, broad practice, lots of jurisdictions, a lot of merger work, state aid and cartel: high quality," says a peer. One client recommends the firm saying: "Good communication, friendly, always available [and] very knowledgeable."

Among the leading individuals in the firm's 40-strong partnership is John Kallaugher, who is recommended in the telecoms sector especially, Javier Ruiz-Calzado (the Brussels and Spain co-chair), Brussels-based Howard Rosenblatt and Marc Hansen (who splits his time between London and Brussels).

On the cartel side, the firm advised Toshiba, Singapore Airlines Cargo (SIAC) and ArcelorMittal. The latter case followed nine years of investigation by the Commission into the prestressing steel cartel, and recently resulted in the firm winning an unprecedented reduction of fines for its client from €276 million to €46 million. The case has prompted new policy announcements on fining levels and the procedure of revealing fining levels recipients.

L&W also received favourable results for SIAC (a case which spanned Europe, the Americas and Asia), which it is now defending against on damages claims by British Airways. The Toshiba case was notable for its use of the new settlement procedures.

Merger cases included the firm's advice to Live Nation on its $2.5 billion merger with Ticketmaster, which resulted in phase one clearance.

Skadden's 20 strong global anti-trust group, with four EU competition partners in Brussels and Frankfurt, keeps its position in the second tier. In 2010 the group recruited Simon Baxter, a former head of competition at Clifford Chance, which, says a peer, "was a great boost to the team; he is excellent, very strategic and deserves a top rating".

James Venit, "an excellent lawyer" says one peer, is widely recommended as the firm's leading individual, while Frederic Depoortere, Nikolaos Peristerakis and Giorgio Motta appear regularly on the biggest deals.

The US firm advised Merck on its $7.2 billion acquisition of Millipore and the Nokia Siemens Networks on the $1.2 billion acquisition of the wireless network infrastructure assets of Motorola.

Baxter and Motta also helped Novell in its acquisition by Attachmate of its intellectual property assets.

Venit and Ingrid Vandenborre acted for Pfizer on its acquisition of Ferrosan Consumer Health. Depoortere also advised China Huaneng Group and Cephalon on merger clearance matters.

The stars of Van Bael & Bellis' EU competition practice are Jean-François Bellis and Markus Wellinger.

Clients appreciate Wellinger's availability and flexibility, his "many languages", "big presence in Germany", "direct way of communicating [and] highly skilled legal advice". "He really understands our needs and comes up with specific solutions and tailors advice according to our requirements," says a client.

The firm as a whole also receives good feedback, notably for its "value for money" in comparison with some competitors. "They have been very good we have no complaints," says one client, another adding: "We feel very valued and they listen to our feedback; it is a very good relationship whereby we rely on their advice and expertise."

In top deals, Wellinger advised Veolia on getting phase two merger clearance for a new joint venture (Veolia Transdev) between Veolia Environment and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations before the Dutch authorities.

Wellinger also led a team before the Commission to help Hon Hai group obtain clearance on its acquisition of Sony's Mexican and Slovakian facilities for the assembly of LCD televisions, and Total for its acquisition of the Feluy polystyrene business of Polimeri.

The firm also handled a number of state aid cases relating to subsidies to the Italian and Sardinian electricity sector and for clients such as Portovesme.

White & Case moves up a tier. The firm has an especially good reputation in cartel work, but also has a good track record in merger cases and state aid.

Feedback in the market suggests that the firm's reputation briefly wobbled when it lost some of its team to Gibson Dunn, however "along with the new Shearman & Sterling they are one to watch," says a competitor.

James Killick is well thought of by clients. "Brussels, Bejing, Tokyo, South Africa and Turkey... they were quite seamless, very good. James had to meet all the people he worked with," says one. Ian Forrester is also recommended by clients, notably for a "classic" style. "He always makes you feel you are the focus of their attention; we never hear complaints or taking calls from other clients," says a client, adding that he is "pretty business-like and realistic".

Other clients also give good feedback: "excellent depth of knowledge," says one, another says: "From Eastern Europe to Poland they were very coordinated".

The firm advised Toshiba on some critical matters, among them an appeal against the commission's findings in investigations, resulting in fines, related to power transformers, gas insulated switchgears among others.

The firm has also been helping Intel appeal against a fine for abuse of dominance and Nexans confront the commission in relation to methods used in a dawn raid. Czech Airlines and SAS Air Cargo also engaged the firm, in a state aid matter and cartel investigation, respectively.

In a merger case, the firm advised Nordic Capital on its $790 million acquisition of Munters.

At the end of 2009 Arnold & Porter received a boost to its practice when it recruited two partners from Shearman & Sterling: Annette Schild and Silvio Cappellari. In June 2010, Schild led the firm on a highlight mandate representing German company BASF in EU merger procedures for its $3.8 billion acquisition of Cognis.

The firm's most reputed practitioner is Brussels-based partner Marleen Van Kerckhove. Among recent deals, the market saw Keckhove work with Cappelari to advise General Electric Company to obtain approvals from the Commission for the sale of its majority stake in NBC Universal to Comcast.

Baker & McKenzie has had a very strong year, most notably in the cartel field where it had a string of high profile successes.

Clients have been pleased. "They were very innovative; there were a number of potential definitions of the market and Baker did a good job in defining them," says one, while another says: "Excellent, they were very good when dealing with problems and solutions and able to see things through."

Another client was impressed by the firm's network: "They did a pretty good job with communication across the offices as we worked with Munich, Düsseldorf, Tokyo, Madrid and Barcelona." One client was especially happy with Anne McGregor, for "spending a lot time with us learning the business".

The firm, led by MacGregor and state aid expert Nina Niejahr, won a big victory for Zhejianj Xishiji Foods and Hubei Xishiji Foods, leading Chinese canned fruit producers, to overturn antidumping import duties.

In state aid, Fiona Carlin and Niejahr were representing energy company MOL on an on-going appeal relating to over €100 million in state aid, while Niejahr also helped Chemrec to win approval for approve state aid for the R&D for a biofuels technology plant.

Kurt Haegeman and Bill Batchelor were busy on the merger side, which included acting for CVC / Univar on its acquisition of the non-French assets of Eurochem (successful before both the European and French commissions) and Ashland on clearance for the $930 million sale of its distribution business to TPG as part of a global restructuring.

In mid-2011, the firm achieved two big back to back victories, one on behalf of Mitsubishi Electric, in relation to the gas insulated switchgear cartel, and another for Trade-Stomil, in the synthetic rubbers cartel. The firm secured two complete dismissals of substantial fines which had been levied on its clients in 2006 and 2007, the latter being the first ever fine on a Polish company.

Bird & Bird joins the rankings for the first time after recommendations by competitors. The firm's reputation has grown substantially since the recruitment of head of competition José Rivas in 2008 from McDermott Will & Emery.

"He is a very, very big competition lawyer, one of the best," says one leading lawyer.

Bonelli Erede Pappalardo is the most established and leading Italian firm on the EU Competition circuit. "They work very hard to understand each project very well," says a client. The firm had an especially strong showing in state aid matters.

In highlight deals, the firm advised Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, a case which is key not only for the client but for the way state aid to non-profits will be handled in the future within the EU guidelines on 'services with a general economic interest'. The state aid in this case was in tax exemptions related to real estate owned by the Conferenza.

The firm handled EU competition aspects on one of the big mergers of the year, advising Prysmian before the commission for merger approval, with the added pressure of having to secure approval before of a rival bid was put from a Chinese cable manufacturer.

A third interesting deal saw the Italian firm navigate the murky waters of civil and military products during its representation of Finmeccania and advise the Italian government in investigations into state aid by the Commission. Again in state aid, the firm successfully defended Destination Stockholm's right to receive state support.

Other high profile clients included SEA Handling, in state aid related matters, and helped Crédit Agricole secure clearance for its acquisition of Carispezia and 96 branches from Intesa San Paolo.

Bredin Prat's five-partner practice is based in Paris and Brussels and led by Marc Pittie. The firm is best known for merger work and is part of the 'best-friends' network which includes Slaughter and May, Hengeler Mueller, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, Uría Menéndez and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek. One of the firm's selling points is its partner to associate ratio.

The firm advised on some of the biggest merger cases in Europe last year, among them the merger of the orange juice businesses of Brazilian companies Votorantium Group and Fischer Group (two of the four biggest suppliers) and Schneider Electric's €5 billion acquisition of Areva T&D.

In other merger work, the firm was engaged by Lactalis Group on the acquisition of the Spanish assets of Puleva and SNPE on the sale of the SAFRAN assets. In merger related work, the firm was also helping GDF Suez appeal a fine for a late notification of an effective acquisition of CNR.

In cartel related work, in 2011 the firm was busy advising ArecelorMittal subsidiary Actalis in the Commission prestressed steel case to reduce a fine by 80%.

The Belgian independent Eubelius has seen an increase in activity coming from Belgacom and BPost, with the Belgian competition authority (under former Allen & Overy partner Jacques Steenberg) getting noticeably more active and focussing on a smaller number of cases. The firm has been active on article 102 investigations and advising on the new leniency mechanisms.

The bulk of activity has come from divestments related to financial distress.

Hans Gilliams gets strong client endorsement: "When you have complex legal issues he is creative in finding solutions and knowing the way out and before you can do that you must know the law thoroughly," says a client. Another says: "He has an excellent understanding of clients, knows the constraints of the environment and competitors angles [and] he is very available and motivated and driven by the law."

Before the European commission, the firm helped SNCB Logistics get phase one approval in relation to the restructuring of its freight division and receipt of state aid to help with the divestments.

The firm assisted Elia System Operator and Belpex get EU clearance for a business combination and was engaged by Soliver to defend it in the investigation into the car glass cartel and appeal to annul fines of €4.4 million. The firm was also retained by the European Competition Commission for a case relating to state aid in the Dutch residential real estate market.

Garrigues is one of the top Spanish firms for EU competition. "They have a good sense for interweaving politics and law. They are aware of how it works across the Eurozone [and] we get their full attention," says one client, while another adds: "They were very good at identifying what was important and when problems arose they explained and discussed in a non-technical way."

The firm scores well on responsiveness and client care. One client who has engaged a number of the top firms says: "I believe we are more inspired [by] and get more meat on the bone from Garrigues." The firm's US office is also given the thumbs up by a client: "The quality of the team was excellent, [with] expertise in dealing with regulatory and accounting issues."

In one major deal, José Luis Buendía Sierra, who is recommended for providing "strategic legal advice" and being "very well informed and clever", advised the Bank of Spain on state aid rules in the context of public support to Spanish savings banks and filed notifications for a number of mergers in the sector.

Also in the troubled Spanish banking sector, Buendía was engaged by Banco Santander and BBVA among others in an appeal against the Commission's stance on tax cuts for certain banking acquisitions. Another state aid case saw the firm advise the Basque government before the Commission on financial support to develop a digital TV service through the region.

On the other side of the table the firm advised the Commission's legal team in four cases in the prestressed steel cartel investigation.

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher moves up in the rankings following strong praise across the market for the quality of its cartel practice.

"They are one to watch," says a peer, adding that recent recruit Andrés Font-Galarza, who joined the firm in March 2010 from Mayer Brown, "is really excellent". Along with the firm's leading lawyers, a fourth partner, James Ashe-Taylor, adds expertise in aviation.

In top mandates, the firm was advising Microsoft on Europe-wide investigations into online search and online marketing practices and Chunghwa Picture Tubes in cartel investigations in the LCD market in Europe, the US and Japan. In the latter case the client received the lowest fine of all the parties being investigated.

The firm acted for Energizer (which owns brands such as Wilkinson Sword) on its acquisition of American Safety Razor. The firm secured approval for the merger in the US and Germany in under 45 days.

Elsewhere, the firm advised Verne Holdings on state aid rules and Orascom Telecom Holdings on its $1.5 billion merger with VimpelCom to create the world's sixth largest telecoms provider.

Gide Loyrette Nouel's Paris and Brussels based team consists of over 30 practitioners led by Stéphane Hautbourg and Benoît Le Bret. The firm moves up a tier this year thanks to consistent positive feedback from the market, attesting to an active and quality practice.

Innovation and pragmatism are among the firm's attributes. "We have worked together on a number of projects since 2009 and I would say that they are very innovative and professional," says one client. Another adds: "I think they are quite good [and] they are quite pragmatic when finding various solutions we had not thought of."

In some of the highest profile cases in Europe, the firm secured clearance for the €4 billion partnership between its client Exeltium, a joint-venture founded by Solvay, UPM, ArcelorMittal and Rhodia among others, and EDF Energy. In June 2010 it got the green light from the EU commission on SNCF's cross-border merger with other international rail companies including Eurostar.

In early 2010 the firm also won a landmark ruling for its regular client France Telecom, which annulled a previous decision from the EU commission regarding state aid issues. The case has reached the European Court of Justice with €9 billion of state aid resting on the outcome.

The firm also helped France Telecom reject an abuse of dominance claim by Vivendi, which has since launched an appeal.

Hengeler Mueller is one of the top two leading German firms. It is very highly reputed, advising the biggest German clients. Peers have noted its recent role in aviation related matters and in competition matters arising directly from the financial crisis.

The firm has a team of seven partners spread between Brussels and Düsseldorf, with one partner in Frankfurt, the most active of which are Hans-Jörg Niemeyer, Alf-Henrik Bischke and Thorsten Mäger.

Within the aviation sector, recent transactions saw the firm advise Austrian Airlines on state aid matters and on merger procedures for a sale to Deutsche Lufthansa, and defend both Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines against an attempt by NIKI Lufthart to overturn a Commission decision on state aid to the two airlines.

Niemeyer also advised WestLB on two state aid proceedings before the Commission; the state aid had been granted to help the bank restructure and Bischke helped Brambles get clearance for its acquisition of IFCO Systems. In a European cartel case, Bischke also represented N.N. in investigations into the computer monitor tubes business.

The firm acted on a number of national cases with global reach. Led by Mäger, was busy advising BHP Billiton at a phase two investigation into a joint venture with Rio Tinto to exploit iron ore reserves in Western Australia (German merger control), and Akzo Nobel in a damages claim by CDC following the bleaching cartel investigation.

UK based Herbert Smith is noted by the market as having a strong global network. "A slightly more international firm [than Slaughter and May], we often see them with clients from outside the UK," says one peer.

According to one client the firm's "Brussels office is very well coordinated, easy to contact, takes instructions from London well and is always available". Craig Pouncey and Susan Black are complimented by clients, Pouncey for being "very experienced and reasonable in identifying issues" and London-based Black for being "very creative [and] innovative". "She drives a hard bargain but is commercial," adds the client. In 2010 - 2011 Lode Van Den Hende and Kyriakos Fountoukakos also led on high profile deals for the firm.

The firm's scope also encompasses its alliance with German and Dutch firms Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe.

Pouncey acted for Michael 'Monty' Widenius, creator of open source software MySQL, against the merger clearance of Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems. The firm is aiming for either divestment or future behavioural pledges by Oracle in the unfinished case.

Fountoukakos advised Arriva and, topically, BSkyB on the Newscorp bid, which has been notified to the Commission. The acquisition of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn received conditional clearance while BSkyB's sale to Newscorp has also received the green light while the case continues in the UK.

The firm was actively advising a client in a European investigation into car electrical systems. Hende was busy on a wide-ranging consumer protection case before the ECC regarding compensation paid by airlines for passengers for flight cancellations and delays, advising clients including EasyJet and British Airways.

Macfarlanes has a very strong presence before the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) where between 2010 - 2011 it won some very notable cases. The firm is also involved in high profile work before the Commission.

On the European front, the firm advised Air Liquid on a complex case involving a joint venture for a business in carbon dioxide neutralising. The firm was engaged by a US advertising agency in the ECC investigation in Google's alleged abuse of dominance.

The firm was also involved advising clients in European cartel investigations in the food industry.

Before the OFT, the firm won a coup for Pinewood Laboratories when the OFT levied a £10 million abuse of dominance fine on Reckitt Benckiser, the first for since 2003, when Reckitt admitted liability for blocking the entry of generic products. Other high profile cases saw the firm advise Kingspan and defend clients in a vehicle manufacturer price fixing investigation.

One of O'Melveny & Myers' competitive advantages is the strong presence of its anti-trust practice throughout the firm's Asian offices, a strategy that recently helped secure a mandate by a Korean petrochemicals group in relation to a global cartel's investigation by the European Commission.

Riccardo Celli and Christian Riis-Madsen led on all the firm's highlight roles. In one on-going deal, the firm advised Firma Lèon van Parys on the Commission's price fixing investigation in the Southern European banana market.

The firm is heavily involved in a number of on-going cartel investigations, playing roles advising the audit committee of a Fortune 25 company and a global semiconductor company.

On the merger side, the firm advised Honeywell International, helping it obtain clearance for a $1.4 billion acquisition of French listed Sperian Protection, being the largest in value terms of three other merger notifications, and Western Digital on its $4.3 billion acquisition bid for Hitachi's hard drive disk business to create the large such company in the world.

Salans is ranked primarily for its strength representing Russian clients for European commission merger notifications and in cartel investigations. In 2011, the firm added a high profile member to its team when it hired David O'Keeffe as senior counsel from Squire Sanders Hammonds. O'Keeffe is a well-known professor and state aid and public procurement expert.

The team, led by Brussels-based Edward Borovikov, is according to one client "very [thorough] and with the deepest level of knowledge. They now what problems they would have in advance and take the time to research before making suggestions."

In significant matters, the firm was advising Russian clients, and some non-Russian clients, on anti-monopoly, state aid, merger control, market sharing and dumping matters. The clients by and large come from a heavy industry background, technology and cosmetics.

The firm's competition practice is spread through offices in Paris, London, Berlin Madrid and Warsaw, among other European jurisdictions. One of its strengths is handling EU competition rules in terms of trade regulations.

Shearman & Sterling is on the way up. The firm has just consolidated its team after losing (in 2009) Annette Schild and Silvio Cappellari to Arnold & Porter, and more recently adding a list of high flying Howrey partners: Götz Drauz, Trevor Soames (former co-chair of Howrey's global practice), Geert Goeteyn, Stephen Mavroghenis and Miguel Rato. The five partners also brought with them a team of ten associates.

"They have hired substantial resources from Howrey," says a peer. "It has a strong UK office and good practice in the US, but it will take time for the new team to settle in," says another peer, adding: "Lars Kjølbye and Drauz had a really great partnership at Howrey and now they have split, what effect will it have?"

The new team needs time in the market to fully re-establish itself but in many ways it is the new contender for the very top of the table. Its list of recent mandates is already impressive. Meyer-Lindemann led teams to advise Cargolux in the cartel investigation into price fixing in the air freight sector. Cargolux was at the time of writing in the court of appealing and in the process of handling damages claims.

On merger matters, Drauz and Mavroghenis were advising Caterpillar on its $8.6 billion acquisition of Bucyrus and was advising Nestlé of a £39 billion disposal of a majority interest in Alcon to Novartis. In 2010 aviation expert Soames helped United Airlines get clearance for its combination with Continental Airlines and was continuing to advise United on investigations into the STAR alliance.

Sidley Austin scores highly on client relations, commerciality and efficiency. According to one client, "they took it [all] in their stride and made themselves available at all times", while another says: "It has been a natural fit, when we want a firm in the UK we contact them. They also help us to connect with other firms globally."

The firm's international ability is vital for some: "it was important that communications were fluid between offices as the transaction moved so quickly and bad communications would have ruined the deal".

Key to the feedback are partners David Went and Stephen Kinsella: "They were as innovative as my risk tolerance would allow ... Their knowledge of the law was fantastic and business acumen top notch," says one client. The duo is also accredited with "applying solutions in a persuasive way" and being "creative in problem solving". "If they were to move to another firm," says the client, "I would be hard pressed not to follow as they do such a great job."

In highlight mandates, the firm won multi-jurisdictional clearance (including in Europe) for Aon's $4.9 billion acquisition of Hewitt Associates. Before the EU Commission the firm also acted for LG Electronics for merger control clearance on its joint-venture with Ericsson. Complicating the deal, the joint-venture also needed clearance in Brazil, Korea and Russia.

The firm has a diverse competition practice spanning competition authorities across Europe and the world. For Corn Products International the firm filed merger notices (for its acquisition of National Starch) in the US, Brazil and Mexico, it handled competition matters in Germany, Norway and Turkey for FLIR Systems in its acquisition of Raymarine, and for Cephalon across a number of European countries.

US firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey and UK firm Hammonds merged in November 2010 to create Squire Sanders Hammonds. The result in EU competition is that the firm has an eight-partner team based in Brussels, London, Frankfurt and Paris, as well as a strong global network.

In high profile roles in 2010-2011, current partners of the firm acted, in the legacy teams, on a number of merger, cartel and state aid deals.

In 2011 the firm was active advising a global player in the Commission's investigation into the LCD screen market and helping Lan Cargo and Lan Airlines to appeal fines related to the commission's air freight investigation. Other clients in cartel work included compressor manufacturer Teumseh and Carpenter & Co, which it advised in the polyurethane foam cartel.

On the merger side, the firm was involved in Lotte's acquisition of parts of Cadbury's business and Metinvest in its $2 billion acquisition of Ukraine's largest finished steel producers.

The firm also has strong competency in state aid, where it recently acted for Mediaset, US/Russian joint-venture International Launch Services and Slovakian distillery Frucona.

Stibbe's competition practice is boosted by its leading corporate practices in Amsterdam and Brussels and by its alliance with Herbert Smith and Gleiss Lutz.

The team has had some changes. In September 2010, leading lawyer Marc van der Woude left the firm to become one of the 27 judges at the EU general court, serving as both a loss to the firm as well as a mark of achievement. Peter Wytinck steps into his shoes.

Wytinck gets solid feedback from clients, with his ability to show "more knowledge than other firms" in certain areas. "He would make sure the solutions he came up with were workable in the context of the case, and that is what we appreciated. He takes time to study the file and understand the facts," says a client.

"The only thing," says one client, "is that unlike other law firms Stibbe did not have that much of an international network".

Stibbe acted in a number of the market's notable transactions. It counselled Tessenderlo Chemie in the first hybrid settlement to secure a 60% reduction in fines following the animal feeds phosphates cartel investigation. It also acted in the first private damages claim brought by the EU Commission against an elevator manufacturers' cartel. The firm was advising elevator manufacturer Schindler in the Belgian courts.

The firm was advising Charles River Development in a case against alleged abuse of dominance by Bloomberg. The firm was also engaged by France Telecom to advise on state aid matters.

Uría Menéndez is one of Spain's three leading EU competition firms. Partner Edurne Navarro led the firm on all its major mandates. Notably, a number of non-Spanish clients engaged the firm for EU competition advice.

In 2010, it advised Spanish television company Telecinco in a case before the EU Commission and Spanish authorities on its €500 million purchase of a controlling stake in Digital+ from Prisa. The case involved second phase approval plus a referral from one authority to another.

The firm assisted the Austrian subsidiary of Roca in an appeal and lenience request relating to a commission cartel investigation, and French defence group Thales in a joint venture with Diehl to acquire the cabin components business of Airbus. In Telefónica's acquisition of Vivo, the firm helped Telefónica challenge the 'golden share' reserved for the Portuguese government in Portugal Telecom.

Vinge is one of the two premier Swedish independent firms in the competition field. "A very strong Swedish firm, extremely good in competition," says a peer. The firm has three offices in Sweden and one in Brussels led by Carl Wetter.

Johan Karlsson heads the Stockholm team, which, says a client, was "innovative: we worked very closely on the project and they provided independent thought that was hugely rewarding for success". Another says: "We have a huge amount of understanding from the top guys we engaged with and adequate understanding from the associates as well".

Stockholm-based Marcus Glader "got on with the job and learning quite fast ...Very clear and speaks well, has good English [and] he is very hands on," says a client.

On the merger control side, the firm recently provided competition advice for the Göteborgs Hamn (the port of Gothenburg) on the on-going privatisation of the container terminal, assisted private investment fund EQT on the merger notification for its acquisition of Dometic, and DSB and First Group on the expansion of its joint-venture business.

In other competition cases the firm advised clients including Tele2, AstraZeneca, Fortum Värme and Gävle Hamn. The Astrazeneca case was in reaction to the ECC and Swedish Authority's investigations into alleged competition violations.

Dechert has 25 competition partners in its global practice, with three based in Brussels.

Isabelle Rahman leads the team in Brussels. "Very effective ... she manages to grasp the knowledge totally and when you need her she manages to provide clear simple answers," says a client of Rahman's. Another recommends Rahman for being "very commercial" and "always responsive".

The firm has "been excellent in understanding our concerns ... very supportive and responsive," says a client, adding: "They are certainly aware of the commercial realities and they have a strong understanding of the business world."

The firm provided merger control advice to Elliott Associates (on behalf of Delphi Corporation), Russian car company Kamaz, One Equity Partners (owned by JPMorgan), Peabody Energy and US Airlines.

The firm also advised FMC Foret on EU cartel investigations into the hydrogen peroxide market.

Hannes Snellman, the leading Finnish firm, is quickly becoming a strong force in Nordic terms. The firm recently recruited partner Peter Forsberg from Vinge to its Swedish office, as well adding a Cleary Gottlieb associate in Helsinki and former Goltsblat BLP counsel in Moscow.

The firm handled a phase two merger clearance for Myllykoski Corporation and Rhein Papier on the €900 million sale of both paper manufacturers to UPM Kymmene. The deal involves clearances from various jurisdictions and the resolution of complex horizontal overlaps.

The firm successfully established the legitimacy of Finnish state aid granted to Componenta. In a similar but on-going matter, the firm was helping municipal enterprise Palmia defend the legality of its state aid from the Finnish government.

The firm was also advising a bidder in the sale of Ovako Steel on competition matters that would arise following an acquisition, given the steel company was distressed and taken over by banks. The firm is also advising a company in the commission's investigation into the truck sector.

Morrison & Foerster added to its team in March 2011, with the recruitment of Tom McQuail from the now defunct tier two firm Howrey. The competition team is led by Rony Gerrits and consists of four partners and three associates.

The firm has a focus on international privacy and data protection laws, as well as on IP-related and antitrust matters.

On recent engagements outside Brussels, the firm has been advising Seiko Epson in the UK courts against a case brought by Nokia for alleged price fixing for LCD screens. The firm helped Fujitsu subsidiary FDK win multi-jurisdictional clearance on its acquisition of Sanyo Electric of Sanyo Energy Twicell and Sanyo Energy Tottori.

MoFo is also representing a list of electronic and high-tech companies in various cartel investigations.

Peltonen LMR Attorneys, formed from a recent merger between Finnish firms Peltonen Ruokonen & Itäinen and LMR, was at the time of writing handling three cases before the EU commission. The team is led by Ilkka Leppihalme and Jukka Luostarinen.

Among recent work, the firm advised a large Finnish industry company in a cartel brought by the European Commission. The firm is most active on national cases before the Finnish Competition Authority (FCA), where it has been assisting clients such as North European Oil Trade (NEOT), a subsidiary of SOK, Finland's fourth biggest company, in a merger control procedure.

Other notable national deals have seen the firm advise Viasat Broadcasting / Modern Times Group on the only phase two case between 2007 and 2010. The firm also advised NCC roads in a cartel investigation by the FCA.