DG COMP’s Kevin Coates Joins Covington’s European Competition Practice

DG COMP’s Kevin Coates Joins Covington’s European Competition Practice

April 4, 2016

BRUSSELS — Kevin Coates, a former senior official who served as Head of one of the Cartels Units at the Directorate-General for Competition at the European Commission between 2012 and 2016, has joined Covington’s antitrust and competition practice.

Over the last 16 years, Mr. Coates has held several senior positions within DG COMP and before that served as in-house counsel at a leading technology company. As Head of one of the Cartels Units, he was responsible for cartel enforcement and managed a team handling a variety of cartel cases from the initial investigation, through to the adoption of the final decision. Mr. Coates had previously served as head of communications at DG Comp where he  worked directly for two Directors General, advising them on policy and communications issues. Prior to that, he handled competition cases in the telecoms and media sectors, and had worked in policy and case coordination. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Coates was European Counsel for AOL Europe, responsible for antitrust and telecoms regulatory issues for AOL subsidiary companies in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Johan Ysewyn, partner and co-head of Covington’s global antitrust practice, based in Brussels, commented: “We are thrilled with Kevin’s decision to join Covington. I have personally admired his work at DG Comp for many years. Kevin is not just an excellent lawyer, he has a tremendous bird’s-eye view of the competition landscape across Europe and beyond. In addition, his cartel experience supplements our already very strong cartel practice.”

Tom Barnett and Deborah Garza, co-heads of Covington’s global antitrust practice, added: “Kevin has a fantastic reputation as an enforcer on both sides of the Atlantic, and our clients will benefit from his experience and insight. He also has a focus on antitrust enforcement in the telecoms, media and IT sectors which will be of great value to our clients.”

Mr. Coates added: “Covington is a firm that stands out, in terms of its commitment to excellence, its existing antitrust practice and its ambition for the future. I could not think of a better platform and look forward to working with Covington’s global competition team.”

Mr. Coates is the author of Competition Law and Regulation of Technology Markets published by Oxford University Press in 2011. He also co-authors the intellectual property chapter in Faull & Nikpay’s EU Law of Competition, and is a frequent speaker at conferences on a range of competition law topics.

A law graduate of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University and the College of Europe, Mr. Coates is admitted to the Brussels Bar and is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.