- Member, Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht (German Antirust Lawyers Association) and Competition Litigation Forum
- Member, Antitrust Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA)
Dr René Grafunder > Dentons > Munich, Germany > Lawyer Profile
Dentons Offices
JUNGFERNTURMSTRASSE 2
80333 MÜNCHEN
Germany
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Dr René Grafunder
Work Department
Competition and Antitrust
Position
Dr. René Grafunder is a partner in Dentons’ Frankfurt office and Co-Head of the Competition and Antitrust group in Germany. He advises clients on EU and German competition matters, including merger control, compliance and state aid. René has substantial experience dealing with cartel, abuse and merger control proceedings before European and national competition authorities and courts. His comprehensive sector expertise in particular covers health care and life sciences, banking, postal services as well as manufacturing. René is a lecturer on EU Competition Law at the DeutscheAnwaltAkademie and the University of Potsdam. He regularly publishes on EU and national competition matters. Before joining Dentons, he worked for another leading law firm in Düsseldorf, Brussels and Beijing. René studied in Potsdam, Paris and Freiburg as well as at the College of Europe in Bruges and clerked at the German Federal Cartel Office.
Career
- Partner, Dentons, Berlin, Frankfurt (2017-present)
- Counsel, Dentons, Berlin (2016-2017)
- Managing Associate, Linklaters, Düsseldorf and Beijing (2011-2016)
- Associate, Linklaters, Düsseldorf and Brussels (2008-2011)
Memberships
Education
University of Freiburg, 2010, Dr. iur.
Admitted to the bar, Germany, 2008
Legal clerkship, 2006-2008, Freiburg, Stuttgart and Bonn
College of Europe, 2005, LL.M.
University of Freiburg, 2004, Legal studies
Paris Nanterre University, 2001, Licentiate in law
University of Potsdam, 2000, Legal studies, (German and French law)
Lawyer Rankings
Germany > Antitrust
Dentons‘ team comprehensively covers German and EU antitrust law and is regularly instructed on merger control, cartel proceedings, market dominance issues and antitrust compliance. The practice is also experienced in issues pertaining to investment control, public procurement and state aid law. René Grafunder acts from Frankfurt and focuses on distribution antitrust law, including the structuring of distribution systems, and jointly heads the practice with Düsseldorf-based Florian Wiesner, who is well versed in drafting contracts in accordance with antitrust law. Both are also experienced in antitrust proceedings, as is litigator Jörg Karenfort, who frequently leads in cartel and abuse proceedings before the European and national competition authorities and also heads the firm’s global antitrust practice. Counsel Arne Karsten (merger control) and Bertold Bär-Bouyssière, who is experienced in cartel damages compensation proceedings and state aid law, are other key contacts. The latter divides his time between Brussels and Berlin and made partner in April 2023.
Germany > Compliance > Compliance
Dentons ‘ compliance team impresses with cross-border capacities and frequent cross-practice cooperation. The team advises companies across various sectors, including the fashion and defence industries. A core focus is on compliance management systems, where the practice is experienced in current ESG and supply chain due diligence matters, as well as traditional topics such as data protection, money laundering and tax law. The team is jointly led by Christian Schefold (data protection, money laundering and fraud prevention) and Judith Aron (co-head of the European compliance practice) and also includes Peter Braun (implementation of CMS for international financial institutions), Gabriele Haas (corporate governance) and the antitrust experts Josef Hainz and René Grafunder. Jobst von Steinsdorff (corporate finance and regulatory) joined OIKON in November 2022.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
Firm Rankings
- Transport > Advice to the transport sector
- Compliance > Compliance
- Industry focus > Energy
- Trade and distribution > Foreign trade law
- Insurance > Advice to insurers
- Antitrust
- Industry focus > Healthcare and life sciences
- Real estate and construction > Real estate
- Public sector > State aid
- Capital markets > Structured finance and securitisation
- Industry focus > Telecoms
- Dispute resolution > Arbitration (including international arbitration)
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation
- Corporate and M&A > Corporate
- Capital markets > Debt capital markets
- Corporate and M&A > M&A
- Public sector > Planning and environment
- Tax
- Intellectual property > Trade marks
- Trade and distribution > Trade, distribution and logistics
- Information technology > Data protection
- Employment
- Private equity > Transactions