Biography • Competition

Dr Helmut Bergmann has been a partner at Freshfields since 1996 and is based in the Berlin office. He specialises in German, European and international antitrust law, covering a broad range of competition aspects, with a special focus on merger, cartel and dominance cases. Helmut has particular experience in the automotive, chemicals, consumer products, energy, financial services, healthcare and media sectors. Recent clients include ABB, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Axel Springer, Daimler, Hoffmann-La Roche, Lanxess, London Stock Exchange, Mars, Wrigley, and Royal Canin. From 1998 to 2006, Helmut was managing partner of the firm's Berlin office; and from 2006 until 2010, he acted as co-head of the firm's global antitrust, competition and trade group.

Helmut was born in 1961. In 1987, he joined the Cologne office of the predecessor firm Deringer Tessin Hermann & Sedemund as a trainee and in 1991 as Rechtsanwalt, relocating to the Berlin office in 1996. His international experience includes working as a stagiaire with the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition (1990) and spending one year with White & Case in New York (1992/1993).

Helmut frequently speaks and writes on antitrust law topics and is recognised as a leading antitrust lawyer in various directories, including Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, GCR 100, The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers & Economists, PLC Which Lawyer, Legal 500 Europe and JUVE. He also acts as non-governmental adviser to the European Commission in the International Competition Network's cartel working group.

Freshfields' antitrust competition and trade practice comprises more than 50 partners and 260 specialists based in Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US. Our coverage of Asia, Europe and the US enables us to advise our clients in competition cases involving many jurisdictions around the world.