Norton Rose Fulbright hires Miranda Cole in Brussels

Norton Rose Fulbright hires Miranda Cole in Brussels

Following Jay Modrall retirement from the partnership, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) hires Miranda Cole as the new office head in Brussels, partner from White & Case.

Cole, who joined the company in April from Covington & Burling, assumes leadership in Brussels while White & Case employee Alexandra Rogers joins the company as a partner in the competition practice.

Modrall, who joined the company in 2013 from Cleary Gottlieb, is still employed there as a consultant.

Prior to joining NRF, Cole worked for 13 years at Covington & Burling. She now concentrates her practice on the health and life sciences industries while advising clients on new regulatory frameworks in the IT and life sciences fields.

She was a member of the Covington team that provided advice to Brussels-based biopharmaceutical giant UCB on competitive issues related to its $1.9 billion acquisition of US company Zogenix, maker of the potentially "blockbuster" epilepsy drug Fintepla, before joining NRF. This acquisition was completed in March.

"This is an exciting era for antitrust and competition, with a significant amount of continuing regulatory activity," said Ian Giles, NRF's head of antitrust and competition for Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

With Miranda as the new head of office and Alex joining as a partner, our highly skilled Brussels team is thriving and set to become even more powerful.

After spending 14 years with White & Case, including five as a local partner, Rogers joins the company. She has extensive experience in a variety of competition law-related topics, like dawn raids and inspections, international merger control and antitrust compliance. She typically advices clients in the manufacturing, consumer products, energy, pharmaceuticals and technology sectors.

With the addition of Rogers, NRF's Brussels office now includes five partners, including Cole, Rogers, Giles, and antitrust and competition attorneys Michael Jürgen Werner and Wilko van Weert.

Recently, the Brussels market has seen a constant stream of partner laterals and office openings, at least in part as a result of the UK's decision to leave the EU. Since Brexit, a number of US businesses have established offices in Brussels, including Fried Frank and Simpson Thacher.