Geradin Partners arrives in UK with a big bang

Geradin Partners arrives in UK with a big bang

Tom Smith, the former Competition and Markets Authority director, to lead the new UK office of the Belgian boutique law firm

Brussels-based boutique law firm Geradin Partners has announced its arrival in the UK with a big bang. The firm's first overseas office will be headed by a person whose presence can turn any competitor green with envy.

The former legal director of Competition and Markets Authority Tom Smith has been named to lead the firm's London office. He joins the firm as a Partner.

Smith was associated for seven years with CMA, where he worked on several significant merger control cases. Previously spent more than a decade at Hogan Lovells.

"Expanding our London capability is the logical next step in our firm's development, considering that the CMA has taken on a leading role in digital enforcement having set up the Digital Markets Unit and taken on more cases post-Brexit," Damien Geradin, the firm's founding partner, said.

Smith has huge experience in the field of competition law. He led the legal team responsible for supporting the CMA's digital markets task force – an area that Geradin specialises in.

His practice focuses on the antitrust aspects of digital regulation, including codes of conduct on digital marketing.

Smith on his part said that he was looking forward to helping businesses navigate their most complex competition law issues, especially in the digital markets sector.

Geradin Partners came into being in January last year. Damien Geradin was associated previously as a partner at Euclid Law. He also had an earlier spell as a partner at Covington & Burling.