Riccardo Celli

Partner

Riccardo Celli is Head of O'Melveny's Brussels office and Chair of the Firm's European Antitrust/Competition Practice.

Riccardo joined O'Melveny in June 2004 as managing partner of the Firm's Brussels office. His professional experience prior to O'Melveny includes six years in the Rome office of a major Italian law firm, followed by 15 years with international law firm Norton Rose, where he was managing partner of their Brussels office for eight years. Riccardo has practiced in Brussels since 1992 and has lengthy experience advising on competition law. In particular he advises in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices, cartel investigations, abuse of monopoly positions, and state aids. He has worked for many of the world's largest corporations across a wide range of industries including energy, IT/media, transport, banking, automotive, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, chemical, and manufacturing. Riccardo represents clients in proceedings before the European Commission (EC) and the European Union (EU) courts, as well as the UK and Italian competition and regulatory authorities. His practice also includes regulatory work, particularly in the energy and transport sectors, as well as advising on general EU law and public procurement.

Illustrative Professional Experience

• Competition clearances for M&A and joint ventures - notifying and dealing with regulators; advising and coordinating multi-jurisdictional filings; advising on optimal transaction structures to achieve clearances, including assisting in preparing and negotiating possible commitments with regulators
• Anti-competitive practices, cartels and abuse of dominant position - avoiding competition infringements in contracts and general commercial behavior; helping clients deal with competition investigations, “dawn raids,” and infringement proceedings; assisting companies that are victims of anti-competitive practices in making complaints to the competition authorities; preparing compliance programs
• Competition litigation - advising on competition and regulatory aspects in proceedings before both national and European courts; assisting on preparation of defenses on competition grounds where breach of contract or intellectual property infringement is alleged; representing clients in proceedings before the EC and the EU courts

Riccardo is recognized as one of the world’s leading lawyers in the field of competition law in many specialized publications, including Chambers Europe, Chambers Global, Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers, European Legal Experts, Global Competition Review, PLC Which Lawyer? and International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers.

Professional Activities

Member, Consiglio dell'Ordine degli Avvocati, Law Society of England and Wales; Brussels Bar; American Bar Association; International Bar Association; European Lawyers' Union (UAE)
Author, "EU Energy," GCR European Antitrust Review (2007-08); "Multi-jurisdictional Merger Control," PLC Cross-Border Competition Handbook (2004-07); "Strengthened Cartel Enforcement in the EU," IBA Competition Law International (2006); "New Developments in EU Legislation and Application of Competition Rules to Interconnectors," International Energy Law and Taxation Review (2002); "The Increasing Role of EC Competition in a Liberated European Energy Market," GCR European Antitrust Review (2002); "The Liberalisation of EU Energy Markets," Guide to Energy Privatisation and Restructuring (2001); "The Liberalisation in the Electricity and Gas Sectors: Regulation and Competition," Antitrust Between EC Law and Competition Law (2000); "Energy and Natural Resources," GCR European Antitrust Review (2000); "EC Merger Regulation," Kluwer Encyclopedia Corporate Acquisition and Mergers (1997 and ongoing contributions)
Co-Author, "Merger Control in the United Kingdom and European Union," Kluwer (1998)
Speaker, "Strengthened Cartel Enforcement in the EU," IBA Antitrust Spring Conference, Sydney (2006); "Best Practices in Approaching Transatlantic Competition Regulation," Counsel to Counsel Forum (Panelist), London (2005); "Managing Global Competition Regulations," Counsel to Counsel Forum (Panelist), New York (May 2005); "EC State Aid," IBA Annual Conference, Auckland (2004); "Dawn Raids: Practical Guidelines for Dealing with On-site Investigations by the European Commission," IBA Corporate Counsel Conference, Barcelona (2003); "New Proposal for Modernization of EC Competition Laws," IBA Annual Competition Conference, Fiesole (2002); "New Developments in EU Legislation Relating to Electricity and Gas Interconnectors," IBC European Energy Interconnectors Seminar, London (2002); "Electricity and Gas Markets in Italy," Strategic Annual International Forum — Electricity and Gas Seminar, Brussels (April 2002); "Modernisation of Competition Rules, What Will Change in Practice?" IBA Corporate Counsel Conference, Paris (2002); "Liberalisation of the European Energy Sectors: EU Electricity and Gas Directives and Competition Law," IIR Energy Conference, Brussels (2001); "EU Energy Liberalisation Under Electricity and Gas Directives and New Approach to be Taken by Energy Companies," Energy and Power Risk Management (EPRM) Europe Conference, Amsterdam (2001); "Regulation and Competition: Putting Italy in the European Context," Adam Smith International Institute's Italian Energy Sector Liberalisation Conference, Rome (2001)