BRUSSELS, Belgium, September 4, 2018 – Skadden announced today that Mr. Edward W. (Bill) Batchelor has joined the firm's Antitrust and Competition group as a partner in its Brussels office. Mr. Batchelor, whose practice focuses on conduct investigations – including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements – has spent his career at another highly regarded global law firm, working  in its Brussels, London and Washington, D.C. offices, as well as at EU and UK competition authorities.

Mr. Batchelor, who has 20 years of EU and UK competition law experience, also regularly represents clients on EU and global merger control matters and litigation, and provides counsel on distribution and collaboration agreements in complex and highly regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services, insurance, media & entertainment and gambling, among others.

“Bill's impressive track record of advising companies on their most significant EU and UK investigations and conduct matters, paired with our existing global antitrust and white collar crime capabilities, will be of tremendous value to our clients,” said Steven C. Sunshine, leader of Skadden’s Global Antitrust and Competition Group. “We are extremely pleased  to welcome Bill to the firm.”

Mr. Batchelor has been recognized as a leader in his field in publications such as Chambers Europe, Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal. Fluent in English and German, he was seconded to the Office of Fair Trading (now the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA))  in 1998, and subsequently has handled several matters before that agency.

“A significant increase in conduct investigations throughout Europe and the development of a more independent merger control process in the UK are presenting new challenges for our clients,” said Skadden's Brussels Office Leader Ingrid Vandenborre. “Bill is a leading practitioner and his experience is a perfect fit for us. We are very excited that Bill will be joining us and support the growth of our investigations practice."

“Skadden's unmatched global platform and ability to handle complex multijurisdictional transactions and investigations is second to none,” said Mr. Batchelor. “I am very excited about joining Skadden's best-in-class antitrust and competition team.”

A graduate of Bristol University, Mr. Batchelor received his legal practice qualification from the College of Law at York.