Paul joins from DLA Piper France and specialises in banking, finance and debt capital markets. He brings in-depth expertise across debt restructuring, finance as well as in various regulatory and derivatives issues. At DWF, Paul will lead the banking and finance practice in Paris.
Christian is a specialist in European Union and national, especially German competition Law. He joins the business from O’Melveny & Myers in Brussels. His practice includes the provision of strategic antitrust-related advice on M&A transactions as well as companies' day-to-day competition law compliance needs with regard to, for example, distribution and other cooperation agreements.
As a German-qualified lawyer and a long-time member of the Brussels bar, he has extensive experience navigating multi-jurisdictional merger cases and defending clients in complex abuse of dominance and cartel investigations before the European Commission, the German Bundeskartellamt, and other antitrust regulators across the globe.
Christian will work alongside DWF partners Vassilis Akritidis and Jonathan Branton as well as others to build an international antitrust capability that is anchored in Brussels but that will benefit DWF's entire global business.
Commenting on the appointments, European Chairman of DWF, Ulrich Jüngst said: "I am pleased to welcome both Paul and Christian to our business as we continue to expand our European business. Both appointments will strengthen our offering to clients within two of our key markets, France and Belgium, while generating pan-European benefits."
Paul said: "With the French banking industry experiencing an increasing amount of regulation, I am keen to utilise my experience as a banking and finance lawyer to help clients navigate through the changing landscape as well as grow the practice in the France."
Christian said: "These are exciting times to be a competition lawyer as economic realities change and disruptive technologies present novel challenges to how we practice competition law. DWF is a firm with a plan that recognises such changes as opportunities. I am thrilled to join such an exciting and fast-moving business as DWF and to be able to contribute to its growth from the centre of Europe."
The appointments come on the back of DWF's recent European acquisition of K&L Gates Jamka sp.k in Poland. The expansion marks the first new location for DWF since its March IPO. The Warsaw office will be DWF's 7th continental European office alongside Brussels, Paris, Milan and three in Germany.
