Laurent Geelhand

Partner
Brussels, London

OVERVIEW

Laurent is widely recognised as an authority in European antitrust law and cross-border litigation and has been listed among ‘the stars of the in-house antitrust bar’ by Global Competition Review.

Expertise

Prior to Hausfeld, Laurent was the European General Counsel of Michelin, where he systematically pursued actions against suppliers and secured multi-million euros settlements arising from the rubber chemicals, synthetic rubber and paraffin wax cartels using innovative litigation techniques and funding schemes. While at Michelin, he also devised a highly regarded and successful antitrust compliance programme.

Clients

At Hausfeld, Laurent leads the strongest antitrust automotive practice in Europe having achieved many settlements and recovered millions of euros on their behalf. In addition, he represents some of the best known corporates and professional associations of Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

WHAT OTHERS SAY

Leaders League, 2022

Highly recommending Hausfeld in Belgium, they say: "Former European General Counsel of Michelin, Laurent Geelhand, leads one of the strongest automotive antitrust practices in Europe, having recovered millions of euros for clients."

Legal Business Awards 2019

Hausfeld was nominated as 'Competition Team of the Year' for its work with Peugeot (PSA Group) against two European and four Japanese manufacturers found guilty of price fixing in 2014, which was a claim led by Laurent.

Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards 2018

Hausfeld won the 'Innovation in Legal Expertise - Dispute resolution' award at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Awards 2018 for the way it applied innovative thinking enabling Dutch truck owners bring a mass claim in the Trucks cartel. Laurent was personally commended for his role in this case, working closely with the leading truck trade association TLN in the Netherlands.

The Lawyer Top 20 Litigation 2018

Hausfeld represented PSA Group in their claim against the manufacturers of the Bearings cartel. The case, which settled before trial, was listed as of one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2018.

Legal 500

‘Expert-level expertise’ – Competition Litigation, 2020

Laurent Geelhand … highly commended for their work across the ‘impressive portfolio of automotive clients.’ - Competition Litigation, 2018

Who’s Who Legal

Recognised as a Global Leader for Competition Plaintiff in the 2021 edition of Who’s Who Legal ‘Global Leaders 2021’.

Recognised as a Global Leader for Competition Plaintiff in the 2020 edition of Who’s Who Legal ‘Global Leaders 2020’.

Laurent was mentioned as a leading name in European anti-trust and is ‘highly regarded for his experience acting for plantiffs’ in significant private enforcement cases.’ He was listed for his ‘exceptional performance’ by ‘WWL Competition 2018, Plaintiffs’ chapter which also described the European offices as ‘stand out’ and Hausfeld the ‘….leading firm in the European market’.

Furthermore, only one in seven of the individuals considered makes it on to the WWL Thought Leaders Competition, Plaintiffs list. In 2019, Laurent was included as a Thought Leader for the jurisdiction of Belgium. - Competition Litigation, 2018

Global Competition Review

Laurent is widely recognised as an authority in European antitrust law and cross-border litigation, listed among the stars of the in-house antitrust bar, in December 2014, listed among the Top 35 Corporate Competition Counsel by the same review. “…Using innovative litigation techniques and funding schemes, Laurent secured multimillion-euro settlements for the tyre maker arising from the rubber chemicals, synthetic rubber and paraffin wax cartels....” – GCR, 2018

Listed among the stars of the in-house antitrust bar.
Listed among the Top 35 Corporate Competition Counsel. – Competition Litigation, GCR, 2014

Regarded as one of the pioneers of antitrust private enforcement in Europe, Laurent has been at the forefront of many landmark antitrust cases.

Most recently, he has been building claims in the Dutch courts for European truck purchasers allegedly harmed by the Trucks cartel - representing over 2,100 clients across Europe with a truck count of some 275,000 - and represented PSA Group as well as BMW in the automotive bearings.

He represented Michelin in the Michelin II abuse of dominance case. At Hausfeld, he represented claimants in the following cartels or abuse of dominance cases:

Rubber Chemicals	Synthetic Rubber
Paraffin Wax	Air Cargo
Car Glass	Bearings
Wire Harnesses	Detergents
Occupant Safety Systems	Yoghurts (France)
Elevators	RoRo/Maritime Carriers
Pre-stressing Steel	Starters & Altenators
Google

Previously, he:

represented Boeing before the European Commission in the Boeing/McDonnell Douglas merger control case, and Klaus Jacobs in the Belgian Barry/Callebaut merger control case
was part of the team working on Coca-Cola Enterprises in abuse of dominance litigation.