Chillin'Competition

It’s that time of the year when everybody receives awards and then humbly publicizes them on the social media 😉 I had several nominations for the Antitrust Writing Awards and was also nominated to GCR’s Academic Excellence Award. I am proud to report that… I did not win any!

Chillin’ Competition has nonetheless indirectly won some awards and recognitions (and I suppose part of my nominations):

• First, our co-blogger emeritus, Nicolas, did receive those accolades in DC. Congratulations!

• Second, a list of the 10 best LLMs in Competition Law came out (see here) and Chillin’ Competition has links with 4 of the 10 best ranked programmes worldwide (LSE, Liège, College of Europe and Brussels School of Competition). I am proud that the LSE specialisation (which was launched in 2013) ranked #2. Congrats to the students and my colleagues!

• Last, but by no means least, Chambers Europe, released today, ranks my co-blogger Alfonso as the only Brussels-based ‘Star Associate’ for competition law (see here , observing that he ‘wins plaudits from sources for his well-regarded competition law blog. He is experienced in the field of technology, frequently advising on cartels and state aid’. Chambers also quotes a client saying that he is ‘widely regarded as the rising star in EU competition law’ (no less!) and that he is ‘smart, hard-working, practical and business-minded’ (what comes across as an understatement). Alfonso repeats his ranking as ‘Star Associate’ in Spain, although the quote included there is, say, somewhat less spectacular [‘sources say: “Academically he is very able, and he also has very good English”] 😉 No matter how proud I am, I look forward to him losing these titles soon.

And to round up the self-promotion, here are the links to our most recent appearances in the press, namely Alfonso’s quotes on Politico and Cinco Días on cartel issues, and my views – featured yesterday in El País – over access to the civil service in Spain (an issue which is dear to my heart and in many ways much more important than competition law).