Chillin'Competition

This blog has a dual purpose. First, it aims at providing refreshing, original, news and comments on competition law and economics. Second, this blog aims at disseminating the research and activities undertaken by the LLM in competition and IP law of the University of Liege (ULg) and by the Institute for European Legal Studies.

This blog has two specificities:

• It is user-oriented. Please do not hesitate to post comments, suggest improvements, etc. I will occasionally post polls, or questions, to which readers are invited to answer if they find the issue interesting. Please note, however, that harsh and derogatory language is strictly forbidden on this blog.
• It will host guest bloggers. Our first guest blogger will be Alfonso Lamadrid, a good friend and former Garrigues associate, now following a LLM at Harvard.

Now, some information about me: I am a full-time Lecturer (“Chargé de cours”) in competition law and economics at the Institute for European Legal Studies (IEJE) Liege Law Faculty and co-director of the IEJE (www.ieje.net). I  hold a PhD (thesis subject was on Oligopolies and tacit collusion in EC competition law, April 2007), a LL.M in European Law with Highest Honors (College of Europe, Bruges – 2001-2002) and a DESS in European Business Law (University Paris II, Panthéon Assas 2000-2001). From 2005 to 2009, I was an associate at Howrey LLP, Brussels. In 2008, I was awarded the Jacques Lassier Prize by the International League of Competition law. I was visiting researcher at Harvard Law School (January 2006) and have been since 2004 research Fellow of the Global Competition Law Centre and Secretary of the Scientific Committee, College of Europe, Bruges. I have also worked as a clerk at the Commercial Chamber of the French Supreme Court. My main research interests cover Abuse of Dominance, Belgian and French competition law, Economics of Competition Law, Procedural issues and Judicial Remedies, Network Industries and International Antitrust. I am finally a senior editor of the online magazine Global Competition Policy.

You can contact me at: Nicolas.petit@ulg.ac.be

(Image possibly subject to copyright. Source: see link here)

From 1 October onwards, I will no longer work with the law firm Howrey LLP. I will dedicate 100% of my time to teaching and research at university.

I spent three great years at Howrey. Thanks to its multicultural membership and to Trevor Soames’ management, the Brussels office is an incredibly “cool” place. Now, I accumulated too much frustration not being able to undertake new research and projects (like this blog). As I often say, there is a paradox out there: the US Brussels-based law firm is in a sense far less entrepreneurial than the big, French speaking, university.

You can now reach me at Nicolas.petit@ulg.ac.be