Competition lawyers are a hot commodity in Brussels. A new European Union competition commissioner made headlines this spring with a barrage of enforcement actions against targets such as Google Inc. and OAO Gazprom. Meanwhile, the ongoing global boom in mergers and acquisitions means that more deals need to be steered through antitrust approvals. It’s all fueling a surge in lateral hiring of competition lawyers.
“The market is incredible in terms of movement,” says Andrzej Kmiecik, a partner at EU competition law boutique Van Bael & Bellis in Brussels. “In the past year it’s been busier than I’ve ever seen it.”
