News & Events | News

Tuesday 29th January 2008

Simon Holmes is to become London Head of SJ Berwin’s EU and Competition department with effect from 1 May 2008.
 
The current Head of the department, Stephen Kon, will continue in the roles of European Head of EU and Competition and International Practice Partner of the firm. 
 
SJ Berwin’s EU and Competition department is a leader in its field and three times winner of the coveted Legal Business 'Competition Team of the Year' Award. With 12 partners and 34 associates, the department has had its most successful year to date with the practice growing by another 40% this year.
 
Simon Holmes, a past chairman of the Law Society’s European group with over 25 years experience of EU and competition matters, is recognised as a ‘Leading Lawyer’ in Chambers, as an expert in the Legal 500 and is named in the Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Anti-Trust Lawyers and the Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers. He is reported by clients in Chambers to be "responsive to our needs and genuinely understanding of our business", and is described as "a member of the inner circle of competition lawyers."
 
Stephen Kon is one of the best known figures in EU and Competition law. He is ranked in Chambers as a ‘Star Individual’ at the very top of his field and as a leading individual in the Legal 500. Stephen has represented the European Commission in competition cases before the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice and has acted in major merger clearance enquiries including the EU clearance of Universal Music's acquisition of BMG Music Publishing for €1.63 billion. Chambers cites client comment on Stephen as "a formidable advocate with great intuition and amazing skills at galvanising a team", and the Legal 500 says his "expertise is regularly recognised by regulators and economists."
 
Simon Holmes said: "I look forward to building on the fantastic practice which the 12 partners of our EU and Competition team have built up over the years."

Stephen Kon added: "After 25 years as head of the EU/Competition department, I am delighted that Simon will be taking on leadership of our London EU and Competition practice. I am looking forward to developing further our EU competition practice in continental Europe and working closely with Simon and all our partners over the years ahead, both on client matters and steering our practice forward to even greater heights."

For further information please contact:

Stephen Kon on +44 (0)20 7111 2237, email Stephen.Kon@sjberwin.com or Simon Holmes on +44 (0)20 7111 2281, email Simon.Holmes@sjberwin.com.

• 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 and pensions, EU and Competition and tax. 
  
  
• SJ Berwin LLP was named 'UK Firm of the Year' at the 2007 Global Chambers Awards.  
  
  
• SJ Berwin’s EU and Competition department has been a core practice area of the firm since its establishment. The department is widely recognised as one of the leading practices in EU regulatory and competition law, operating from Brussels, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich and Paris. Three times voted ‘Competition Team of the Year’ in the UK Legal Business Awards, the team regularly features in the Global Competition Review’s ‘GCR 100’, a survey of the world’s leading competition practices. 
  
  
• Unlike many other European law firms, SJ Berwin’s EU and Competition practice spans not only competition law but also a broad range of other areas of EU law, which includes an active regulatory practice in pharmaceuticals, telecoms, energy and chemicals, an established trade law practice and a cutting edge EU/competition law litigation practice before both national and EU courts.  
  
  
• The EU & Competition Department of SJ Berwin is one of the leading UK and EU competition practices in Europe with strong working relationships with the European Commission, the UK the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission and competition authorities across Europe.  The pan-European team advises on State aid; mergers and JVs; 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; free movement; lobbying and arbitrage.
  
  
• Clients include: ABS (American Bureau of Shipping); AES; Apple; Associated British Foods plc; Akzo Nobel; Biogen Idec; British Broadcasting Corporation; DeBeers; Diageo; EasyJet; Expedia; Fonterra Cooperative Group Limited; Fyffes plc; JVC; Ladbrokes plc; Marks and Spencer; Merck Generics; Morgan Stanley; Organon; O2/Telefonica; Nutreco Holding NV; Procter and Gamble; Qantas; United Biscuits; Universal Music; Virgin Media; WRAP and most of Europe's leading private equity houses.
  
  
• On 1 June 2005, SJ Berwin became SJ Berwin LLP, a limited liability partnership. SJ Berwin LLP or an affiliated undertaking has an office in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.  More information on SJ Berwin’s services can be found at www.sjberwin.com.