Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati to Open First European Office in Brussels
20th September 2011
20 September 2011 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises worldwide, is pleased to announce that it is opening an office in Brussels, Belgium. The office will be led by Michael Rosenthal, previously the managing partner of Hunton & Williams' Brussels office, who will be joined by Götz Drauz, the former Deputy Director-General for Competition at the European Commission, and former Hunton & Williams partner Paul McGeown, along with a counsel and three associates. The team combines private practice, industry, and high-level government experience and offers a broad spectrum of antitrust and competition services at the European Union and national levels in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The office is expected to open in October.
"In recent years, the European Commission has become an increasingly important forum for our clients when it comes to antitrust review, particularly concerning mergers and acquisitions and global cartel investigations," said Chairman Larry Sonsini. "Opening an office in Brussels, the seat of the European Commission, is a natural evolution of our mission to serve our clients as they seek to grow and compete on a global basis, and we are excited by the opportunities that it represents."
"We couldn't have asked for a finer team to lead our efforts in the European Union than Michael, Götz, and Paul," said CEO Steve Bochner. "They are all highly accomplished attorneys whose talents and experience mesh extraordinarily well with the firm's thriving M&A and antitrust practices. It is with great pride that we welcome them to the firm."
Dr. Michael Rosenthal joins the firm from Hunton & Williams, where he successfully built that firm's Brussels office and chaired the European arm of its competition practice. He advises clients on all aspects of EU and German competition law and is listed as a leading competition lawyer in the major legal directories, including Who's Who of Competition Lawyers. Prior to joining Hunton & Williams, Rosenthal was an associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Debevoise & Plimpton in New York.
Named as an "elite" practitioner by Global Competition Review, Götz Drauz joins the firm from Shearman & Sterling, where he practiced antitrust and competition law; previously he had been a partner in Howrey's Brussels office. In the course of his career, he has represented companies in some of the most significant merger, conduct, and cartel investigations in Europe. Prior to entering private practice, Drauz served for 25 years at the European Commission. In his most recent positions, as the Deputy Director-General for Competition and, before that, as head of the Merger Task Force, he managed and coordinated all of the EC's merger control activity for nearly a decade.
Also joining from Hunton & Williams, Paul McGeown advises clients in a wide range of industries on all aspects of European competition law, with particular expertise in complex merger cases, industrial partnerships, and State aid matters. He has extensive experience representing clients before the EC and United Kingdom competition authorities. Prior to his tenure at Hunton & Williams, McGeown was a partner at Linklaters and, earlier, an associate at Salans in Paris and Slaughter & May in Brussels and London. He also served as in-house competition counsel at a major global engineering corporation.
