T +44 20 7716 4127

E lorand.bartels@freshfields.com

Lorand Bartels is Counsel in the firm’s trade practice, where he advises clients on a variety of issues under WTO law and FTAs.

Alongside his role at Freshfields, Lorand is Professor of International Law at the University of Cambridge, and as an academic he has taught, published and advised on many areas of trade law for two decades, including a leading article on the EU’s Emissions Trading System in the European Journal of International Law.

Lorand has been appointed to several government bodies. He is presently Chair of the UK Trade and Agriculture Commission, an independent statutory body which advises the UK Secretary of State for Trade and the UK parliament on how newly signed UK FTAs relate to the UK’s animal welfare, animal and plant health, and environmental standards.

Lorand received an MBE in the Queen’s 2022 New Year Honours for service to UK trade policy.

T +44 7814 937 409

E sarah.jensen@freshfields.com 

Sarah is Counsel in our global antitrust group.

She has extensive experience and technical expertise across a wide range of antitrust and foreign investment issues that arise on complex mergers and investigations. In her role, Sarah works with clients and lawyers across our global group to ensure our clients benefit from the group's leading expertise in these rapidly developing areas.

Sarah co-leads our antitrust and sustainability working group, and regularly advises clients on the role competition authorities are playing to support businesses deliver on ESG goals and the competition law implications of different ESG initiatives. 

T +44 207 031 7095

E david.foster@frontier-economics.com

David is a Director in Frontier Economics competition practice, where has worked since 2005.

He regularly advises clients on competition issues in front of the European Commission, as well as handling merger, antitrust and competition litigation cases in front of national regulatory authorities and courts. He has particular expertise in Telecoms, Media and Technology, in FMCG and retail, and in public markets and the healthcare sector.

He is listed as Thought Leader in Who’s Who Legal for competition economics, and has published in the Competition Law Journal. He sits on the Editorial Board of the LexisNexis Competition PSL publication, for which he has authored a number of articles on the application of EU Competition Law.

T +44 7732 651 077

E michele.davis@freshfields.com

Michele assists clients before EU and UK regulators and courts across all aspects of EU and UK competition law, including merger control and foreign investment, Articles 101/102 and equivalent UK legislation, market/sector investigations and sector specific economic regulation.

Michele co-heads Freshfields’ Global Tech, Media and Telecoms sector group and has particular experience of advising clients on complex M&A and investigations in the energy, digital, telecoms, media, and defence sectors. Michele also regularly advises companies and global financial investors across the regulated sectors, including energy and water, on transactions, regulatory investigations and price control appeals. She has extensive experience in advising clients on navigating the UK’s public interest and national security regimes and in managing multiple competition and FDI reviews on multi-jurisdictional transactions.

T +49 162 26 34 612

E merit.olthoff@freshfields.com

Merit’s practice covers EU and German competition law with a focus on EU state aid rules.

Based in our Brussels office, and also a core member of our German antitrust team, Merit’s practice covers all aspects of EU and German competition law, including cross-border merger control and foreign investment screening, as well as antitrust investigations. Her clients include industrials in transformation, financial institutions, tech companies and private equity firms.

Merit also specialises in EU state aid procedures before the European Commission and EU Courts, and is currently advising at the forefront of green transformation and its funding. She is a core member of our antitrust and sustainability working group, which is responsible for our contribution to ongoing policy debates and formulating regulatory strategies that help our clients achieve their ESG goals. She is also actively engaged in the EU’s proposed new Foreign Subsidies Regulation, and co-heads the firm’s internal skills group.

T +44 7966 961 644

E martin.mcelwee@freshfields.com

Martin helps clients manage their strategy in relation to competition law issues and covers all aspects of EU and UK competition law, including merger control, antitrust, market reviews, State aid and subsidy control.

He has acted in a wide range of cases in front of the European Commission and the UK competition and sectoral regulators.

Much of his work is multinational in nature – including cross-border mergers, pan-European investigations and counselling clients on their global antitrust strategy. Many of his cases involve managing a team of lawyers across multiple jurisdictions.