Shoosmiths inaugurates its Brussels office, appoints EY Law’s EU competition leader
Following Brexit’s aftermath, the latest firm to set up shop in Brussels is National UK outfit. To inaugurate a new office in Brussels, top 40 UK national firm Shoosmiths has appointed EY Law’s EU competition law leader. The new office in Brussels would be the first overseas base.
Besides Simon Barnes, who’s Shoosmiths’ leader of competition law, Kiran Desai would also be working in his new role. Shoosmiths believes that this new launch would help the firm to cater to the trade and regulatory law needs of its clients.
“The presence of a new office in Brussels would be useful for Shoosmith in offering EU advice, which has currently become a relevant aspect for the firm’s business clients, especially in the post Brexit environment”, quoted Shoosmiths, while also adding that this launch would provide more access to useful talent, especially in domains related to competition, international trade, privacy data and EU regulation.
Desai, who is the present managing partner of Shoosmiths’ new office in Brussels is qualified in England, Belgium and Wales law. Previously, Desai worked at EY for four years where he was EU competition law leader. Later on, he served at Mayer brown for three decades. In his new job as a managing partner, Desai brings experience advising clients on competition law and EU regulatory laws. He has also served clients in different fields like automotive, air transport, chemicals, while focusing on the media and technology sectors.
Shoosmith’s new Brussels firm, which is likely to grow in the future has Desai as the only permanent lawyer currently.
According to Shoosmiths’ CEO, Simon Boss, “the biggest trading partner of the UK is the EU and therefore, the EU law has significant influence on the legal policy and international jurisprudence”.
“While the government has been reviewing the UK’s competition regime, transactional activity which requires law input has also increased, indicating that now is the ideal time to invest more in our prevalent competition law practice”, comments Barnes. Kiran adds on depth and breadth of experience that enhances the firm’s offering, not only at the UK level but also at an EU level.
Shoosmiths has collaborated with a series of US firms while dedicating itself to its newly found presence in Brussels and recognising the fact that UK sits beyond the boundaries of EU’s competition law.
Fried Frank announced the inauguration in Brussels last week. Following that in 2021 Kirkland & Ellis, Simpson Thacher and Curtis had also launched their firms along with Reed Smith, setting up a shop in 2020.