Senior Legal Counsel
Westlake Vinnolit GmbH & Co. KG
Germany
As an English and German dual-qualified lawyer with an LL.M. degree from the University of London in International Business Law (with Merit), I have gained extensive experience in competition/antitrust and commercial law as well as compliance (foreign trade law, product liability).
In the area of competition/antitrust law, I advise management and business personnel in connection with:
– Vertical agreements, e.g. distribution, site services and supply agreements;
– Horizontal relationships, e.g. the information exchange between competitors in the course of industry fairs, contract negotiations, in hub-and-spoke scenarios, etc.;
– Abusive behaviour (investigating potentially dominant positions of competitors and their exploitative/exclusionary conduct);
– Merger control, e.g. reviewing existing long-term contracts to determine a potential change of control on a lasting basis and the possibility of exercising decisive influence;
– Reviewing and re-drafting various documents, e.g. our Antitrust Policy, Dawn Raid Policy, Antitrust Reminders including Dos and Don’ts in preparation of industry fairs, etc.;
– Training business personnel (sales and procurement departments) on various aspects of antitrust law.
In the area of commercial law, I negotiate, review, draft and analyse various commercial contracts, e.g. supply of goods/sale and purchase agreements, distribution, service (including design services), quality, settlement, logistics (e.g. buffer stock, consignment stock/vendor managed inventory and third party logistics provider agreements) and cooperation agreements as well as NDAs. In addition, I am in the process of adjusting compliance processes based on the new Product Liability Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/2853.
In the course of my work, I identify and minimise risks in the above mentioned agreements, ensure compliance with competition/antitrust laws and liaise with other business units in the course of contract negotiation, review and drafting. Having worked for both a manufacturer and distributor, my experience covers a broad spectrum of competition/antitrust and commercial law.
My post-qualification experience spans almost 22 years in several jurisdictions in the EU, both in-house and private practice. Business acumen, commercial awareness and an international education add considerable value to any internationally operating organisation.