Mr Bernard Amory > Jones Day > Brussels, Belgium > Lawyer Profile

The team of ‘lawyers with strong technology backgrounds’ at Jones Day is active across areas such as  competition and regulatory issues in the telecoms sector, cybersecurity assessments in the context of transactional work, and contractual mandates. The firm is also well positioned to handle an array of venture capital work in the space. Jörg Hladjk, one of four heads of team, is praised for his ‘great communication skills’. Fellow co-heads Bernard Amory and Alexandre Verheyden frequently handle domestic and EU-level competition work for telecoms clients, while co-head Thomas De Muynck is able able to bring his corporate expertise to bear on cross-border technology transactions for local and foreign multinationals and private equity funds. Regulatory issues connected with Belgian fibre roll-out fall among Yvan Desmedt‘s practice strengths, and Laurent De Muyter is recommended for EU regulatory issues.

The team at Jones Day leverages the strength of its deep senior bench to expertly handle major Belgian-level merger proceedings, abuse of dominance cases, state aid issues, and follow-on litigation, including acting in proceedings before domestic courts and administrative bodies. Bernard Amory, who co-leads the firm’s global antitrust and competition practice, and Alexandre Verheyden, who oversees the Brussels office, both have significant experience in transatlantic merger and cartel work. Other key contacts in the practice include Laurent De Muyter and Yvan Desmedt.

The cross-departmental group at Jones Day is noted as being ‘unique for its in-depth knowledge of the sector, agile approach, and innovation‘. The team has a global and local technology and telecoms client base, which includes government agencies as well as key industry players. Bernard Amory and Alexandre Verheyden provide a competition and antitrust angle, while ‘excellent communicator‘ Jörg Hladjk focuses on the cybersecurity and data protection elements.

The team at Jones Day brings its ‘specific smart understanding’ to the gamut of competition work, merger control clearances, antitrust investigations and follow-on damages claims all form a significant part of the regular workload. Additionally, the team is well regarded for its state aid expertise. Bernard Amory oversees the practice, supported by Brussels office managing partner Alexandre Verheyden. Other key senior names in the team include Laurent De Muyter and Kaarli Eichhorn. Of counsel Geoffroy Van De Walle has recently led on major abuse of dominance cases. In June 2022, the group’s transactional offering was further strengthened by the arrival of Nadiya Nychay from Dentons.