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Kevin Coates

Senior Of Counsel

Brussels +32 2 549 5232

London +44 20 7067 2298

  • About
  • Representative Matters
  • Credentials
  • About

    Kevin Coates advises clients on critical antitrust matters drawing on his extensive public sector experience in the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission ("DG COMP"), most recently as Head of a Cartel Unit.

    His practice has a particular focus on advising companies in the electronics, technology, software and e-commerce sectors.

    Kevin advises on all aspects of EU, UK and international competition law, including merger control, compliance, cartels and leniency, and abuse of dominance.

    Kevin served as Head of a Cartel Unit at the Directorate-General for Competition (“DG Comp”) at the European Commission between 2012 and 2016. Prior to this, he held several positions within DG Comp, over nearly 20 years in total, including advising the Director General of DG Comp on policy and communications issues, and overseeing competition cases in the telecoms and media sectors. While working for the Director General he was one of the team that produced the Guidance on Enforcement Priorities under Article 102.

    He was also a visiting research fellow at NYU School of Law in 2009-2010.

    Prior to joining DG Comp, he served as in-house Counsel at AOL Europe where he was responsible for antitrust and regulatory issues for AOL subsidiary companies in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

    Kevin is the author of “Competition Law and Regulation of Technology Markets” published by Oxford University Press in 2011.

    Kevin is co-chair of Covington’s Internet of Things (IoT) group, and leads the firm's Brexit Task Force.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Practices and Industries
  • Representative Matters
    • Advising The Walt Disney Company on the antitrust clearance process for its $71.3 billion transaction with 21st Century Fox.
    • Advising a German high tech car parts maker in a Standard Essential Patents based competition law complaint brought by a competitor before the EU.
    • Advising global consumer goods brands on a range of issues including retail alliances in the EU, distribution and e-commerce, and sustainability issues.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Credentials
    Education
    • College of Europe, 1992
        • Law
    • Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, 1991
        • Law
    Bar Admissions
    • Brussels
    • Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales
    • Ireland
    Government Experience
    • European Commission
    Languages
    • English
    Accolades
    • Chambers Europe, TMT (2018) 
    • Legal 500 EMEA, Competition - EU and Global (2016-2017) and IT and Telecoms (2017)
    • Who’s Who Legal, Competition (2017-2019)

    Areas of Expertise

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