Linklaters

Linklaters' competition practice announces the election of Malgorzata Szwaj to the partnership. Malgorzata is based in the firm's Warsaw office and is recognised as a leading competition lawyer in Poland. In addition, Thomas Franchoo and Daniel von Brevern, based in Brussels and Düsseldorf respectively, have been appointed as counsel. The promotions take effect on 1 May 2010.

Gerwin Van Gerven, Global Head of Linklaters' Competition practice, said: "The promotions highlight our commitment to strengthening our competition offering across the globe in order to deliver a consistently excellent service to our clients. I would like to congratulate Malgorzata, Thomas and Daniel and wish them every success in their new roles."

Malgorzata holds a law degree from Warsaw University and studied at Queen Mary and Westfield College in London. She is a member of the Polish Bar. Malgorzata joined the firm in 2004, from Polish law firm Wardyński & Partners, to develop the Warsaw office’s competition practice. Under her leadership, the Polish team has achieved a first-tier ranking in Chambers and Malgorzata herself is one of the few Polish competition lawyers to be ranked by both the international and national legal directories, including The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, as one of the top competition lawyers in Poland.

Malgorzata has considerable experience in transactional and contentious matters involving antitrust, merger control, State aid and EC law generally. She represents leading clients in industry sectors such as pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, chemicals, energy, consumer products, retail and financial services. She has represented clients before the Polish competition authority and courts as well as before the European Commission.

Thomas graduated from K.U. Leuven and holds Master's degrees from Durham University and the College of Europe. Thomas is a Belgian qualified lawyer and member of the Brussels bar. He joined Linklaters in Brussels in 2001. Thomas has published several articles on competition law and recently spoke at the IBC Cartel Risks and Compliance conference in Brussels.

Thomas has experience in all aspects of EU and Belgian antitrust law, particularly regarding cartel and leniency work, concentrations (mergers and joint ventures), State aid and general antitrust advice, including abuse of dominance cases, the hindrance of parallel imports and distribution issues. In these cases, he has represented clients in the financial and banking sector, consumer products, chemicals, transport and the pharmaceutical industry. Key matters include advising the immunity applicants in the marine hoses and bitumen cartels and, recently in the context of the financial crisis, advising KBC with the notification of its restructuring plan to the European Commission. Thomas has represented clients before the Belgian competition authority and courts as well as before the European Commission and the Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Daniel attended universities in Heidelberg, Bonn, Montpellier (licence en droit) and Ann Arbor (LL.M) and was a Referendar in Berlin and Brussels. Before joining Linklaters in 2008, he worked for Lovells in Brussels and Düsseldorf. Daniel frequently presents at seminars and conferences, and has published numerous articles on competition law and, in particular, State aid law.

Daniel has specialised experience in European and German competition law and European State aid law. Recent matters include advising Hypo Real Estate and other German banks in their State aid proceedings before the European Commission, as well as representing Fresenius Medical Care and RWE Innogy in merger control proceedings before the European Commission and the Bundeskartellamt.