Luis Ortiz Blanco is of counsel in the EU and Competition Law Department at Garrigues, where he has continued to pursue his professional career after spending ten years (1987-1996) as an official in the Directorate General for Competition in the European Commission, Brussels.
Luis specializes in EU and Competition Law and, in particular, in advising and representing clients in administrative and court proceedings before authorities and courts at Spanish and European level (European Commission, National Antitrust Commission, commercial courts, National Appellate Court, Supreme Court and Court of Justice of the European Union). He is the go-to lawyer for a large number of multinational and Spanish companies on EU and Spanish competition law and is regularly involved in many of the most high-profile proceedings at European level.
His practice areas cover cartels, cooperation agreements between competing companies, distribution and agency agreements, abuses of a dominant position, merger control, State aid, free circulation of goods and trade defense proceedings.
Directories such as Chambers and Partners Global – The World’s Leading Lawyers, Chambers Europe, Legal 500, Global Competition Review, Who's Who Legal, and PLC Which Lawyer have recognized Luis as a distinguished specialist in antitrust law.
Luis teaches competition law and trade defense procedures at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) and the Brussels School of Competition (Brussels). He is also a lecturer on private international law at the law faculty of Universidad Complutense, Madrid and director of the annual EU and Spanish Competition Law Program at the IEB (Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles), Madrid.
He is a member of the Madrid Bar Association. He was the President and member of the Board of the AEDC (Asociación Española para la Defensa de la Competencia, Spanish Association for the Defense of Competition), an association which he chaired until 2011. Currently he is Secretary General of the AEDEur (Asociación Española para el Estudio del Derecho Europeo, Spanish group within the Fédération Internationale de Droit Européen, FIDE, an association which he was General Secretary between 2008 and 2011), and member of the Board of EMLO (European Maritime Law Organisation). In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Board of the European Competition Journal (Oxford).
Degree and Doctorate in Law and Degree in Spanish Philology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Visiting Researcher, Real Colegio Complutense Harvard Law School.
Luis has authored some of the most well-known books on EU and Spanish antitrust law, including EU Competition Procedure (Third Edition), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013 (forthcoming) (Editor), Market Power in EU Antitrust Law, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2012, Shipping Conferences under EC Antitrust Law, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2007 and Competition Law Handbook (*), published by Tecnos, Madrid, 2008.
Luis regularly contributes articles to the main publications on international competition law. His most recent articles include:
- Ortiz Blanco, Luis and Lamadrid de Pablo, Alfonso. "EU Competition Law Enforcement: Elements for a discussion on effectiveness and uniformity", International Antitrust Law & Policy: Fordham Competition Law 2011, Chapter 4, 2012.
- Ortiz Blanco, Luis and Lamadrid de Pablo, Alfonso. "Expert Economic Evidence and Effects-Based Assessments in Competition Cases in Merola", M and Derenne, J. (eds), The Role of the Court of Justice of the EU in Competition Law Cases, Global Competition Law Center Annual Conference Series, Bruylant, 2012.
- Ortiz Blanco, Luis and Jörgens, Konstantin. "Important developments in the field of EC competition procedure. Journal of European Competition Law and Practice", Volume 2, Number 6, 2011. Oxford University Press. pp. 560-571. ISSN 2041-7764.
Ortiz Blanco, Luis and Lamadrid de Pablo, Alfonso. Infringement procedures and their safeguards. Horizontal agreements between companies, Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2009 (*). - Ortiz Blanco, Luis, Givaja Sanz, Ángel and Lamadrid de Pablo, Alfonso. "Fine Arts in Brussels: Punishment and Settlement of Cartel Cases under EC Competition Law. Antitrust: between EC Law and National Law", Bruylant, Bruxelles, 2008.
- Ortiz Blanco, Luis and Ruiz García, Napoleón. "The new infringement rules under Antitrust Law 15/2007: three steps forwards and one step back? Antitrust Law 15/2007. Observations on new developments. Institute of Law and Industrial Ethics – Communications in Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law", Vol. 48 (*).
(*) originally published in Spanish.
Luis is a regular speaker at high-profile forums, seminars and conferences in the area of European and international competition law, including those organized by the International Competition Network (ICN), the Global Competition Law Center (GCLC), the Academy of European Law (ERA), the European University Institute (IUE), Fordham University and the European Maritime Law Organisation (EMLO).
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