Luis Blanquez is an international antitrust and competition law attorney with 15 years of experience at the European Commission and major international law firms in the European Union (Brussels, Madrid and London).
Before moving to the United States in 2016, Luis served with the Merger Task Force, Director General of Competition of the European Commission in Brussels, (DG Comp), where he investigated and analyzed proposed mergers including: Oracle/Peoplesoft, Banco Santander/Abbey, and EDP/GDP/ENI. From there he spent ten years with international law firms in the EU, representing clients in cartel and other competition-law related investigations, merger control proceedings, as well as general competition law advice and compliance. These matters included: advising Telefónica on its £17.7bn takeover offer for O2; acting for HSBC on the public bid by EON for Endesa; and advising two different Japanese clients on European Commission cartel investigations.
Luis’ earlier European experience also includes training at the Directorate General of Information Society of the European Commission in Brussels, where he was actively involved in the drafting process of the Regulatory Framework of Electronic Communications Networks and Services (i.e. the Framework, Authorization, Access and Interconnection Directives, User’s Right’s Directive, Data Protection Directive and Unbundled Local Loop Regulation); and the “Leonardo da Vinci” European program––where he supported French legal chambers and judges as a junior attorney working in several local French law firms in Nantes.
In 2016, Luis joined Bona Law PC in San Diego, California. He received his license to practice as a US attorney from the California Bar in 2018. Since joining Bona law in 2016, Luis has prosecuted and defended clients in antitrust actions in federal and state courts, including the defense of a Japanese capacitor manufacturer against class action antitrust claims (In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation). In addition, Luis continues to provide support to our US clients on EU competition law and advices on the various dissimilarities and substantive differences between the United States’ consumer-welfare based laws and the EU’s rivalry bias.
Luis is a native Spanish speaker, fluent in English, and proficient in French. He holds a citizenship in Spain (EU) and is a permanent Green Card holder in the United States.
Education
J.D., Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) and Université de Nantes (France)
Erasmus Exchange Program
LLM, European Business Law, Universiteit van Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
LLM, European Competition Law, Kings College London (UK)
With merit
Spain (European Union)
Representative Matters
- Represent client in a dozen antitrust lawsuits against Orange County municipalities and private company for monopolizing the ambulance industry.
- Defend Japanese capacitor manufacturer against class action antitrust claims in federal Multi-District Litigation. (In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation).
- Prior to joining the firm, Luis was also involved with other international law firms in antitrust cases in the European Union, advising among others:
- Telefónica on its £17.7bn takeover offer for O2 (together with the London office).
- HSBC on the public bid by EON for Endesa (together with the London office).
- GALP before the European Commission and the former Court of First Instance (now General Court), concerning its participation in the Spanish Bitumen Cartel (together with the Brussels and Lisbon offices).
- Hombergh and De Pundert on EU merger control rules regarding their acquisition of joint control over RSDB. Preparation of Form RS to DG COMP pursuant to Article 4(5) of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (while at the Brussels office).
- Shell Petroleum N.V. on the signing of a Sale and Purchase Agreement and Trademark License Agreement relating to the divestment of Shell’s Oil Products businesses in Spain.
- Adveo (Former Unipapel) in the envelopes cartel case, and Lactalis in the milk cartel case, both before the Spanish Competition Authority.
Publications
Concurrences: Antitrust Publications
- The Spanish Supreme Court halves an antitrust fine in the bakery sector to 150.000 Euros.
- The Spanish National Court issues a third judgment in the asphalt roads cartel case addressing the issue of the burden of proof in bid rigging cases (Asphalt roads cartel).
- The Spanish National Court applies the ECJ “dual pricing” ruling to quash a decision by the Spanish Competition Commission concerning prices imposed to wholesalers by pharmaceutical company (Pfizer).
- The Spanish Competition Authority fines the holder of football TV rights for abusing its dominant position in the resale of these rights and in the pay TV market (Mediapro).
Gaceta Jurídica de la Competencia y la Unión Europea
Others
- La investigación de la Comisión Europea sobre el sector farmacéutico ¿Empresas Innovadoras vs. Fabricantes de Genéricos?
- Glaxo Wellcome e Irish Beef: ¿Qué acuerdos tienen realmente por “objeto” restringir la competencia en Derecho Comunitario?
- La reparación de daños y perjuicios por incumplimiento de las normas comunitarias de defensa de la competencia: en busca de la Directiva perfecta, pero ¿existe realmente?
