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Michael Bauer named Head of the CMS Competition & EU Group

12 February 2019

CMS has appointed Michael Bauer, based in BrusselsBelgium, as head of the CMS Competition Group, effective 12 February 2019. He will lead an international team of more than 60 partners and a total of 170 competition lawyers in 32 countries. The group advises clients on all aspects of competition law in Europe and beyond.   

Michael Bauer takes over this role from Harald Kahlenberg, who has led the CMS Competition Group since 2005 and under whose leadership the group has grown to become one of the top European competition law teams. He was instrumental in shaping the continuing professionalization of the group, and moving it to the next level. One of the group's most recent successes is the development and launch of the CMS Dawn Raid App, a project led by Harald Kahlenberg. Due to its unrivalled geographic coverage, the app for 27 countries has been well received by many CMS clients and other companies.

Harald Kahlenberg says: "I am happy to hand over the group to Michael Bauer, who will be an excellent leader of the CMS Competition Group. Michael is well-known for his client-focused work and his successes."

In 2019, Michael Bauer will concentrate on maintaining CMS's position as one of the top competition law advisers by focusing on client relationships across Europe and beyond. "I look forward to this challenging role, in particular to demonstrating that we are not just outstanding competition lawyers, but also that we understand the business of our clients and their key drivers. Our emphasis will be on making the group one of the top quality leading international competition practices for multi-jurisdictional merger control, competition investigations and related litigation.", says Michael Bauer.

Michael will be supported  by a newly created Steering Committee comprising experienced competition lawyers from different countries, reflecting the international footprint of CMS: Dirk Van Liedekerke (CMS Belgium), Caroline Hobson (CMS UK), Malgorzata Urbanska (CMS Poland) and Marquard Christen (CMS Switzerland).