Specialisation in competition law & EU

Bernt Elsner is an attorney-at-law with a special focus on public procurement law and antitrust law and is a leading expert in the fields of competition law & EU as well as public commercial law.

He studied law at the University of Vienna and business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. In 1993-94 he worked as a research assistant at the Austrian Constitutional Court for the constitutional judges Prof. Dr. Karl Spielbüchler and Prof. Dr. Karl Korinek. In 1997 he practised European competition law at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels. From 2004 to 2010 he was Managing Partner of CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz. He has more than 22 years of professional experience in Vienna and Brussels.

He advises and represents national and international companies in national and European merger control proceedings, especially in cross-border mergers, on horizontal antitrust law, especially in the area of submission cartels, vertical distribution structures, abuse control and state aid law.

In the area of antitrust law, he would like to achieve the following: “I would like to position CMS as the first point of contact for companies seeking comprehensive top-level service in merger and antitrust proceedings across several European jurisdictions.”

He explains the CMS’s largest asset as follows: “The CMS network offers access to more than 140 antitrust experts in 27 countries, providing significantly greater coverage in Europe than any of our competitors. This is particularly important for house searches, because we can support our clients on site at very short notice thanks to our numerous locations.”

Industries

Bernt Elsner has extensive industry experience in construction and infrastructure, healthcare, finance, energy and waste management.

Lecturing

Bernt Elsner is a frequent speaker on antitrust law compliance, preparation for house searches and state aid law at antitrust conferences, seminars and directly in companies.

Publications and articles

Bernt Elsner is the author of numerous specialist books, book contributions and essays on public procurement and competition law topics.

Ranking

Chambers & Partners place Bernt Elsner unanimously in Band 1, describing him as a “brilliant public procurement lawyer” (2014), Legal500 note he is “very fast, precise and pragmatic” (2016). Who’sWhoLegal describes him as a “sensational lawyer” who combines “deep expertise with business competence” (2015). IFLR has named him “Market Leader” (2019) in the field of energy and infrastructure and “Lawyer of the Year” (2019) in their Best Lawyers in European Law.

Roles

Bernt Elsner heads the Austrian Section for EU Competition Law in the fields of antitrust law, merger control, abuse of market power, state aid and antitrust compliance. He is a member of the management team of the international CMS Competition & EU Practice Group and head of the CMS Public Procurement Practice Group.

Specialisation in public commercial law

Bernt Elsner is an attorney-at-law for public commercial law and a leading expert in the areas of competition law & EU as well as public procurement law and antitrust law.

As a former research associate at the Austrian Constitutional Court, he has specific experience and expertise in public law matters. He represents clients before various authorities, the Federal and Regional Administrative Courts, the Constitutional Court, the Administrative Court and the European Courts.

Bernt Elsner studied law at the University of Vienna and business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. In 1993-94 he worked as a research assistant at the Austrian Constitutional Court for the constitutional judges Prof. Dr. Karl Spielbüchler and Prof. Dr. Karl Korinek. In 1997 he practised European competition law at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels. From 2004 to 2010 he was Managing Partner of CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz. He has more than 22 years of professional experience in Vienna and Brussels.

Industries

Bernt Elsner has extensive industry experience in construction and infrastructure, healthcare, finance, energy and waste management.

Lectures and publications

Bernt Elsner is an active lecturer on public procurement law and public law at the University of Vienna and at numerous conferences and seminars. He is head of the MANZ Annual Conference on Public Procurement Law. He is the author of numerous specialist books, book contributions and essays on public procurement and public law topics.

Ranking

Chambers & Partners place Bernt Elsner unanimously in Band 1, describing him as a “brilliant public procurement lawyer” (2014), Legal500 note he is “very fast, precise and pragmatic” (2016). Who’sWhoLegal describes him as a “sensational lawyer” who combines “deep expertise with business competence” (2015). IFLR has named him “Market Leader” (2019) in the field of energy and infrastructure and “Lawyer of the Year” (2019) in their Best Lawyers in European Law.

Roles

Bernt Elsner heads the Austrian Practice Group for Public Commercial Law. He is also head of the global CMS Practice Group for Public Procurement.