News & Events | News

Friday 1st December 2006

SJ Berwin LLP is pleased to announce the appointment of another three new associates for the London office.

Philipp Girardet, deputy director of the OFT’s cartel branch, joins SJ Berwin on 5 March.  In addition to running a number of important cartel cases, Philipp has played a key role in developing the leniency policy of not only the OFT, but also that of the European Competition Network and the OFT’s strategy for criminal cartels.  Philipp was previously an associate at Freshfields.

Sheldon Mills from Jones Day will be joining the firm on 8 January.  Prior to Jones Day, Sheldon worked at Nicholson Graham and Jones. 

Susanna Britton, having previously qualified at Lovells joins the pan-European practice from Watson Farley.  Susanna will also be starting on 8 January. 

The appointment of Philipp, Sheldon and Susanna takes the total number of lawyers in SJ Berwin’s pan-European EU & Competition practice to 52.  

Stephen Kon, head of SJ Berwin’s EU & Competition department, said, “The arrival of Philipp, Sheldon and Susanna is a welcome addition to our already substantial department and is a tribute to the success of our well established and progressive pan-European practice.  The calibre of candidates we are able to attract reflects the high quality work we undertake.  This significant expansion follows similar recruitment in recent weeks across our offices in Brussels, Milan, Munich and Paris.”

Philipp Girardet commented “I am delighted to be joining SJ Berwin.  It has an excellent competition practice and I believe my experience at the OFT will be very valuable to its clients.”

The recruitment of Philipp, Sheldon and Susanna follows the recent appointments of associates Roberto Amore in Milan, Thorsten Pries in Munich, Karin-Amelie Jouvensal in Paris, Dutch partner Wilko Van Weert and French associate Indiana de Seze in Brussels
 

For further information please contact: 

Stephen Kon on +44 (0)20 7111 2237 or by emailing email address stephen.kon@sjberwin.com or

Dorota Wozniak on +44 (0)20 7111 5066 or by emailing email address dorota.wozniak@sjberwin.com 

About SJ Berwin LLP

• SJ Berwin LLP is a full-service international legal practice with more than 550 lawyers across its offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.
  
  
• SJ Berwin’s EU & Competition team won Competition Team of the Year at this year’s Legal Business Awards.  This is the third time the team has been named Competition Team of the Year, more than any other UK law firm.
  
  
• Head of EU & Competition, Stephen Kon was awarded Best Achievement in Copyright Practice at the World Leaders European IP Awards 2005.
  
  
• The EU & Competition department of SJ Berwin advises on mergers and JVs; state aid, cartel and monopoly enquiries; national and  EC complaints and litigation; notifications to competition authorities; regulatory work; IP and competition interface issues; advisory and compliance work; trade and customs; lobbying and arbitrage.
  
  
• The EU & Competition Department of European law firm, SJ Berwin LLP is one of the leading UK and EU competition practices in Europe with strong working relationships with the European Commission and in the UK with the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") and the Competition Commission. It has been a core practice area of the firm since its establishment in 1982.
  
  
• Clients include: Associated British Foods, AES, AKZO Nobel, Biogen, British Land, Coca Cola Enterprises, CSFB, Diamond Trading Company, Diageo, easyJet, Electricidade de Portugal, Expedia, Federcitrus, FENIN Ibersol, Fonterra, Generics (UK) Limited, Genworth Financial, Gruner + Jahr, Hellman and Friedman, Hilton Group, Hoffmann-La Roche, Ibersuizas, International Commodities Exchange (ICE), ITV, JVC, Kureha Chemicals, Ladbrokes, Landbell, Mediaset, Metronet, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Marks & Spencer, NEC, NTL, O2, Procter & Gamble, RBS/Natwest, Swedish Match, the BBC, United Biscuits, Universal Music, William Hill and WRAP.
  
  
• SJ Berwin was created and thrives as a leading-edge legal services business, focusing on the European and international market place. Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, principally multi-national and entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions, whom we advise on a comprehensive range of services including Corporate Finance, Commercial, Real Estate, Banking, Reconstruction and Insolvency, Financial Services, Litigation, Employment & Pensions, EU & Competition & Tax.
  
  
• Our approach has resulted in the firm winning a number of recent awards including: Best Law Firm (Fund Formation) (Private EquityOnline and Private Equity International) 2006; No 1 in Legal Week’s Law Firm Satisfaction Survey 2005; UK Firm of the Year - Legal Week Awards 2005; Law Firm of the Year 2005 at the EVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Awards for the second consecutive year; Real Estate Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2005; Real Estate Team of the Year - The Lawyer Awards 2005; Jonathan Blake named Global Private Funds Lawyer of the Year by The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers; Jonathan Blake was admitted to The BVCA Hall of Fame, the only adviser to have done so.
  
  
• More information on SJ Berwin's services can be found at www.sjberwin.com