EU: Sheppard adds antitrust lawyers in Brussels

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton is making a play for competition work in Brussels, betting that U.S.-based clients will increasingly have to deal with EU regulators. The Los Angeles-based firm has added a two-partner EU competition and regulatory practice in its existing office, hiring Jacques Derenne from Hogan Lovells and Robert Klotz from Mayer Brown.

The new hires in Belgium come just days after the European Court of Justice invalidated the Safe Harbor agreement, a pact that made it easier for U.S. companies to transfer and store data on European customers. Derenne, who will lead the practice, works on EU litigation and competition investigations. His clients have included FedEx Corp., Korean Air Lines Co. and French energy company Alstom.

Chris Guirado and Yaniss Aiche are also joining as counsel. Guirado, previously in-house counsel at the European Union’s Fusion for Energy, had been a senior associate in Hogan Lovells’ Brussels office and the head of business.

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