DLA Piper appoints senior Competition partner to its Brussels office

DLA Piper has appointed Laurent Geelhand, an experienced Competition partner, to its Brussels office, who starts on 3 October. Laurent joins from Hausfeld & Co, where he has been since 2014 and is currently Managing Partner of the firm’s Brussels and Paris offices, as well as Head of both the Automotive and Transport and Logistics practice groups. Prior to joining Hausfeld he was General Counsel at Michelin for 16 years.

Laurent’s practice focuses on advising large corporates and trade associations within the automotive, transport and logistics sector, mostly on cartel issues and abuse of dominance cases. He has advised and represented clients in more than 20 cartel matters.

Laurent’s appointment will create a focal point from which the Brussels office will provide competition advice across Europe and follows the appointment of Competition partner Joost Haans who starts on 1 September. These appointments build on an already strong European platform, with a presence in our offices in Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands and the UK, with further plans for expansion. The appointments, in line with the Competition team’s wider growth strategy, follow last year’s lateral hires of Justus Herrlinger in Germany, Marc Lager in Austria, Gábor Fejes and Zoltán Marosi in Hungary and Matt Evans in London.

Paul Hopman, International Head of Litigation and Regulatory at DLA Piper, commented: “Laurent’s appointment will have an instant impact both in Belgium and across our growing international competition team. He is a highly respected and technically astute competition partner with extensive in-house experience and perspectives. His connections and reputation, combined with DLA Piper’s global platform, will undoubtedly assist in the generation of new, high-caliber opportunities and pave the way for other similar appointments in the near future.”

Kristof De Vulder, Country Managing Partner in Belgium, added: “We are thrilled to have Laurent join our team in addition to Joost Haans who will also soon join us in Brussels. Laurent has been involved in many high-profile and sophisticated matters and will be a strong asset to our clients. This is the next chapter in our strategy to have the Brussels office of DLA Piper play a key role in the global competition arena.”