Asianajaja, varatuomari, LL.M. (King’s College London) Ilkka Leppihalme vetää Dittmar & Indrenius Asianajotoimisto Oy:n kilpailupraktiikkaa (Head of Competition and Public Procurement). Leppihalmeella on huomattava kokemus EU:n ja Suomen kilpailuoikeudesta. Hän on ollut asiamiehenä mm. Suomen suurimmissa kilpailurikkomusasioissa (mm. asfalttikartelli- ja raakapuukartelliasiat), lukuisissa merkittävissä kilpailuoikeudellisissa vahingonkorvausoikeudenkäynneissä sekä muissa vaativissa kilpailuoikeudellisissa toimeksiannoissa. Hän on työskennellyt kilpailuoikeusjuristina myös Brysselissä yhdessä maailman suurimmista asianajotoimistoista (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer). Leppihalme on yksi muutamasta Suomen Asianajajaliiton Kilpailuoikeuden asiantuntijaryhmän jäsenestä. Leppihalme on listattu yhdeksi Suomen johtavista kilpailuoikeuden asiantuntijoista kaikissa merkittävissä kansainvälisissä ranking-julkaisuissa, kuten esimerkiksi Chambers Europe – Europe`s Leading Lawyers for Business, Global Competition Review, The Legal 500 ja Guide to the World`s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers/Economists.

John Ratliff has some 40years of experience as an advocate and adviser on all aspects of EU Competition law.

He retired from WilmerHale, a leading US law firm, at the end of 2022, having joined in 1999.  Before that, he was with Stanbrook and Hooper, a specialist competition and trade law firm in Brussels.  He now works in independent practice as an avocat in Brussels, and as a Barrister with Henderson Chambers in London.

John has assisted with many types of European Commission proceedings (including merger control cases with remedies, alleged infringement cases, cartel defences, complaints and third party actions in merger cases seeking remedies).

He has advised on a wide range of transactions and compliance issues, including JVs, cooperation, Art. 102 TFEU and sustainability issues.

He also advises on REMIT energy market manipulation issues.

John has studied or worked in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

He has had the pleasure of participating in the Helsinki Competition Conference since 2009.

Dr Carsten Krüger is an associate director and a legal counsel of Cartel Damage Claims (CDC) Consulting in its German office. In co-operation with CDC’s external lawyers, he has successfully coordinated and supported various proceedings on antitrust damages before national and European courts. He has also published several articles and spoken at various conferences on private antitrust law and collective redress. Before joining CDC, Carsten worked as a competition lawyer in various German law firms; he was admitted to the German Bar in 2003. Carsten studied law and economics in Bayreuth (Germany), obtained an LLM in International Competition Law and Policy in Norwich (UK) and obtained his doctorate in Münster (Germany) on the joint and several liability of cartel members.

Thomas Janssens is a partner in Freshfields’ antitrust and regulatory group, which he led globally for six years. He covers transactional and conduct matters as well as related litigation for clients from a whole range of sectors. In the past year, his work has involved mergers (e.g. HPE/Juniper), cartels (e.g. Norwegian Salmon and End-of-Life Vehicles), dominance cases (e.g. in the pharma sector), DMA (e.g. Meta’s appeal against its designation as a gatekeeper) and state aid (e.g. STMicroelectronics).

Thomas is a regular commentator on global developments and an active member of the International Bar Association (IBA), where he recently concluded a three-year Co-Chairmanship of the Antitrust Section. He has been invited by competition authorities around the world to contribute insights on global enforcement policies, and is Global Contributing Editor of Lexology’s flagship Panoramic Merger Control guide.

He was educated at the University of Leuven and Columbia Law School.

Stefan Perván Lindeborg is a partner in Mannheimer Swartling’s EU and Competition Group. He works with all types of EU and competition matters including in particular merger control and competition law related litigation. Stefan has extensive experience of complex merger investigations before the European Commission and national competition authorities, and has been involved in a substantial number of the most important competition cases before the Swedish courts. He splits his time between Stockholm and Brussels.

Johan Carle began his career at Mannheimer Swartling in 1993, after finishing his legal clerkship at the Stockholm District Court. He has been a partner in the firm since 1999, and heads the EU and Competition practice group. For more than a decade, Johan also headed the firm’s office in Brussels, giving him the skills to deal effectively with both Swedish and European competition authorities and courts. Johan regularly advises larger Scandinavian and international companies. He has extensive experience in matters relating to merger control, cartels, abuse of dominance, state aid and public procurement.

Vera is an Italian qualified lawyer specialized in competition law. She obtained an LL.M. degree in European business law from the Universiteit van Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

She has worked as a business lawyer in private practice in Italy and has joined the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission in 2006.

Vera is currently a policy officer in unit A1 of DG Competition, in charge of antitrust case support and policy. She has in particular held leading roles in relation to sustainability and antitrust and in the ongoing work on the Article 102 exclusionary Guidelines.

She previously gained experience in the enforcement of State Aid control in the energy sector. Vera has also worked for 5 years as senior case handler in the DG Competition unit in charge of antitrust investigation in the IT, internet and consumer electronics sector. In this role, she has investigated abusive practices in online search and online search advertising, as well as abusive data practices. Before, Vera gained extensive case-related merger control experience in the ICT sector across many industries and also worked in the policy unit in charge of merger control of DG Competition. Vera also worked for 3 years as a legal adviser at the European Data Protection Supervisor with a focus on digital economy, IT systems and databases with an impact on privacy and data protection.

Asianajaja Leena Lindberg on Krogeruksen kilpailuoikeusryhmän toinen vetäjä. Kilpailuviraston johtoryhmään kuulunut Leena on perehtynyt perusteellisesti ja laaja-alaisesti kilpailuoikeudelliseen sääntelyyn ja prosesseihin toimiessaan 14 vuoden aikana Kilpailuvirastossa eri tehtävissä. Hänen vastuullaan oli muun muassa asfalttikartellitutkinta. Tutkimuspäällikkönä Leena vastasi myös useita vuosia yrityskauppojen arvioinnista sekä useiden yrityskauppa- ja kilpailunrajoitustapausten käsittelystä markkinaoikeudessa ja korkeimmassa hallinto-oikeudessa. Hän työskenteli vuoden Euroopan komissiossa kilpailun pääosastolla.

Kirsi-Maria Halonen on julkisiin hankintoihin erikoistunut professori Lapin yliopistosta. Hän on myös Ruotsin kilpailuviraston tutkimusneuvoston jäsen ja Keskuskauppakamarin yhteydessä toimivan elintarvikeketjun kauppatapalautakunnan varapuheenjohtaja.

Lassen tehtävänkuva kattaa ulkomaisten sijoitusten seurantaan, huoltovarmuuteen ja taloudelliseen turvallisuuteen liittyviä kokonaisuuksia. Lassella on päävastuu ulkomaisten yritysostojen seurantamenettelyn (laki ulkomaalaisten yritysostojen seurannasta) mukaisten tapausten käsittelystä ministeriössä. Lasse toimii myös tapauksia arvioivan viranomaisverkoston varapuheenjohtajana. Aikaisemmin Lasse on työskennellyt ministeriössä EU:n sisämarkkinapolitiikan valmistelun ja yhteensovittamisen tehtävissä sekä ulkoministeriössä kauppapolitiikkaan liittyvissä tehtävissä.

Virtanen on toiminut yli 20 vuoden ajan KKV:n palveluksessa eri tehtävissä ja vuodesta 2012 lähtien Virtanen on toiminut johtajana ja yksikön päällikkönä. Nykyisin Virtasen vastuulle kuuluu erityisesti kartellien ja muiden kilpailunrajoitustapausten tutkinta.