Postgraduate Diploma in EU Competition Law

Rafique is an antitrust, competition and trade partner in the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Brussels office. He has an LLM in international business law, and combines a strong commercial edge with a global outlook. His practice focuses on all aspects of European competition law, with a particular emphasis on projects with a worldwide angle. On mandates, his first priority is to understand his clients' business and commercial objectives. He maintains close contact with his client teams in order to ensure collaborative working relationships and the confidence and peace of mind that his clients appreciate.

He has built significant sectoral experience through transactions in the chemicals and plastics, mining, and air transport and rail sectors, among others. He works in mainly global teams for clients in Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Australia, South Africa and Russia. His multinational clients come to him for practical, creative solutions based on a thorough understanding of how their industry operates.

Rafique complements his client work by lecturing in competition law at King’s College London and the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Leo Flynn, a graduate of the National University of Ireland and of Cambridge University, joined the Legal Service of the European Commission in 2002.  He is a Legal Adviser and currently deals with issues of economic governance.

Leo worked in the State aid team of the Legal Service from 2008 to 2016, where he was responsible for issues concerning State aid to banks in the context of the financial crisis since 2009. He also dealt with questions concerning State aid procedure including recovery and execution of State aid decisions.

Prior to joining the Commission, Leo had worked as a Legal Secretary at the Court of Justice for five years.  From 1992 to 1997, he had lectured at King’s College, London.  He is currently a Visiting Professor at King's College.

He has been an agent for the Commission in over 250 cases, more than half of which concern State aid.

Luis Gomez serves as partner in the London office’s EC, Competition & Trade Department and member of the Energy, Chemicals, Mining & Infrastructure Industry Group. He advises on general competition and merger control law at both the EC and UK levels, as well as varied competition issues in the oil and gas, mining, chemicals and infrastructure sectors. Luis is the executive editor of Global Merger Control Manual and co-author of "State Measures and Public Bodies" in PLC’s EC and UK Competition Law Practice Manuals. He joined Baker & McKenzie in 1994 and became a partner in 2003.

Practice Focus: Luis focuses his practice on a full range of competition law advice — from cartel defense and leniency, abuse of dominance, distribution strategies and global or local compliance audits, to merger control processes and the analysis of complex joint ventures and strategic alliances. He regularly appears before the OFT, Competition Commission and European Commission. Luis also has extensive knowledge of general antitrust and merger filing regimes in the US, having spent one year in Baker & McKenzie’s Washington DC office. He previously assisted Shell International Limited in coordinating filing strategies for a whole range of other corporate transactions.

Paula Riedel is a partner in Kirkland’s London office. She represents clients before the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. Her practice spans the full spectrum of antitrust requirements, in particular EU and multinational merger control, antitrust, state aid, compliance and regulatory matters.

Paula is recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers Global, Chambers Europe and Chambers U.K. She is a long-standing tutor on King’s College London’s Postgraduate Diploma in EU Competition Law and is a former Chair of the Law Society Competition Section. Prior to partnership, she was seconded to the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry, Competition Policy Directorate (Merger Policy).

Paula was elected to partnership at Linklaters LLP in 2003 and prior to joining Kirkland was head of the London Competition Group at Linklaters.

Thomas Wilson is an antitrust partner in Kirkland’s London office. He represents clients before the EU Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office. Thomas advises on all areas of competition law, in particular EU, German and multi-jurisdictional merger control, cartels, antitrust, State aid, compliance and EU litigation as well as on foreign direct investment matters.

Thomas regularly speaks at competition law conferences, frequently publishes on practically relevant topics and was recognised as a “Future Leader” by GCR’s Who’s Who Legal in 2017-2019 guide and as leading competition practitioner in GCR’s 2020 edition. He was further recognised as a Rising Star in Competition and Antitrust by LMG’s Expert Guides in 2020. According to Who’s Who Legal, the “outstanding” Thomas Wilson is recognised as “the go-to person with questions on cross-border mergers” and clients stress his “very sharp and hard-working approach”.

Prior to joining Kirkland, Thomas was a counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Brussels.

Prof. Dr. Wouter P.J. Wils is a Hearing Officer for competition proceedings at the European Commission and a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. He was educated both as an economist and as a lawyer at Louvain, Utrecht and Harvard. As a Member of the Legal Service of the European Commission from 1994 to 2010, he represented the European Commission in more than 300 cases before the EU and EFTA Courts. He is the author of a variety of legal and economic publications, including Efficiency and Justice in European Antitrust Enforcement (Hart Publishing 2008), Principles of European Antitrust Enforcement (Hart Publishing 2005) and The Optimal Enforcement of EC Antitrust Law (Kluwer Law International 2002). His recent papers are accessible at http://ssrn.com/author=456087.