Latham & Watkins LLP consolidated its position in the competition field with the May 2025 hire of White & Case LLP‘s Tilman Kuhn, augmenting the practice’s ability to handle complex antitrust litigation, with Kuhn also bringing his expertise to bear for clients facing merger and FDI control hearings. He joins a team that includes Michael Esser, a specialist in handling European and global cartel investigations across a range of sectors, and Max Hauser, who focuses on securing merger and FDI clearances. Jana Dammann de Chapto is particularly well versed in FDI regulations, frequently appearing for clients before the European Commission and domestic courts on this topic. Jan Höft left the firm in January 2025, with Niklas Brüggemann returning in August 2025, having previously been a case handler for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Global coverage. Excellent people across jurisdictions.'
- 'The team is exceptionally strong in complex transactions.'
Key clients
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Meta
- Lufthansa
- Microsoft
- Global Infrastructure Partners
- Apollo Global Management
- Triton
- Autoliv
- Federal Republic of Germany
Work highlights
Advised Global Infrastructure Partners and KKR as co-investors in relation to the investigation by the German Federal Cartel Office into Vodafone and Vantage Towers for an alleged restriction of access of 1&1 to Vantage Towers’ telecom tower infrastructure.
Acted as co-counsel to Lufthansa in an action seeking the annulment of a decision by the Federal Cartel Office that claimed that Lufthansa abused its dominant position by limiting Condor’s access to its domestic route network.
Represented Meta in the abuse of dominance probe by the German Federal Cartel Office relating to the interplay between privacy rules and antitrust law.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Other key lawyers
Max Hauser; Jana Dammann de Chapto; Michael Esser; Tilman Kuhn; Niklas Brüggemann