Laurence Bary
Partner | Paris
Laurence Bary

Laurence Bary focuses her practice on EU and French competition law, and represents clients in cases concerning mergers, anticompetitive practices before the French and EU competition authorities, and in State aid matters. She has experience in helping clients during full (Phase II) merger control investigations, including before the European Commission, and has represented leading companies in the digital sector during investigations conducted by various competition, administrative, and judicial authorities.

Ms. Bary has developed impeccable credentials working for major international groups in the information technology, new technologies, aeronautical, and defense sectors. She has been ranked as 'Up and Coming' by Chambers Europe 2024 and as Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500 EMEA 2024, named a Rising Star in competition law by Law360, and recognized in Law.com International's inaugural European Female Rising Star list. Ms. Bary is also listed as a leading competition lawyer in France by Best Lawyers 2023 and GCR 100 2024 and was recognized as a 'Future Leader' by Who's Who Legal in its 2022 Competition guide.

She is a lecturer at the University of Aix-Marseille and has published numerous articles on competition law in Concurrences and Revue Lamy de la Concurrence. Prior to joining Dechert as a partner, she worked at another international law firm in Paris and Brussels.

  • A global leading IT group before the Paris Court of Appeal to challenge the highest ever fine imposed by the French Competition Authority, and succeeded in securing a partial annulment and significant decrease of the fine by 66%, from €1.1 billion to €371.6 million.
  • A global pharmaceutical group in a case before the French Competition Authority and the Paris court of appeal relating to an alleged abuse of collective dominance concerning the “off label use” of its drug in the ophthalmic field.
  • A global animal health company in a complaint before the European Commission leading to the investigation of a potentia “killer acquisition”.
  • Airbus in several critical acquisitions, including the acquisition of Bombardier’s CSeries aircraft, the creation of its joint venture with Safran in the defense and space sector, and the subsequent acquisition of Arianespace, the European space launch service provider.
  • Google in several abuse of dominance cases before the French Competition Authority and related private enforcement cases before French courts, including the largest private enforcement claim ever filed against Google in Europe.
  • A major automotive supplier in cartel proceedings before the European Commission, the U.S. DoJ and the Japanese Fair Trade Commission.
  • IBM in a number of cases before the French Competition Authority.
  • Amundi in its €3 billion acquisition of Pioneer Investment.
  • UTC in a number of cases before the French Competition Authority.
  • Lagardère in connection with the appeals brought before the General Court and the European Court of Justice by Odile Jacob against the European Commission decision approving Lagardère/Hachette’s €1.25 billion acquisition of Vivendi Universal Publishing (now called Editis) and related subsequent decisions of the European Commission.
  • Hachette in connection with distribution arrangements, as well as the design and implementation of a comprehensive antitrust compliance program.

Includes matters handled at Dechert or prior to joining the firm.

  • Revolutionising Competition Law: The Impact of Generative AI and AI Foundation Models — Concurrences Digital Antitrust Conference, Paris, France (April 25, 2024)
  • 11th Global Merger Control Conference — Paris, France (December 8, 2023)
  • Appréhender l'intelligence artificielle par le droit de la concurrence — Paris Legal Makers II Conference, Paris, France (November 23, 2023)
  • Managing competition authorities’ dawnraids — Cercle Montesquieu Workshop, Paris, France (June 30, 2023)
  • Competition in the Cloud  Concurrences Digital Antitrust Conference, Paris, France  (June 8, 2023)
  • GCR Live: Foreign Investment Control 2022 — Global Competition Review (December 6, 2022)
  • 10th Global Merger Control Conference — Paris, France (December 2, 2022)
  • Annual Advanced EU Competition Law, Brussels — InformaConnect (November 21-23, 2022)
  • Digital Antitrust: How to regulate?   Concurrences, Hybrid (March 17, 2022) 
  • Global Antitrust Merger Enforcement Trends In Times of Change: 2021 Year in Review — Dechert LLP, Webinar (January 31, 2022) 
  • 9th Annual Global Merger Control Conference   Concurrences, Conference (December 3, 2021) 
  • Thriving in the New Antitrust Paradigm: Part 1 – Merger Clearance —  Dechert LLP, Webinar (October 27, 2021) 
  • Merger control : European Commission Guidelines on the article 22 —  Table Ronde Lettre des Juristes d'Affaires, Paris, France (July 2021)
  • Regulation of platforms: One size fits all? EU, UK, US, Germany   Concurrences New Frontiers of Antitrust Conference, Webinar (June 11, 2021)
  • Les nouvelles tendances du contrôle des concentrations — Lex Inside/Le Monde du Droit (March 2, 2021)
  • 8th Global Merger Control Conference Virtual Conference (December 2-4, 2020)
  • Advanced EU Competition Law Conference Virtual Conference (November 23-25, 2020)
  • GCR's Women in Antitrust conference Virtual Conference (November 17-18, 2020)
  • Vertical Mergers: Assessing Antitrust Risk and Maximizing Clearance Prospects — Virtual Conference (June 10, 2020)
  • 7th Global Merger Control Conference  Paris, France (December 6, 2019)
  • Roundtable « Pénalisation du droit de la concurrence: la découverte d’une nouvelle voie procédurale » — (September 29, 2019)
  • First edition of the mentoring program W@CompetitionFR — Paris, France (July 4, 2019)

 

  • Appréhender l'intelligence artificielle par le droit de la concurrence Les Echos (April 10, 2024)
  • Pharmaceutical Antitrust Book — Concurrences (November 30, 2023)
  • Impactful decisions exemplify FCA and Supreme Administrative Court's evolving merger control — Global Competition Review (June 30, 2023)
  • Digital Market Act : Commission européenne et plateformes sont dans les starting-blocks — Les Echos (September 23, 2022)
  • Enquête sectorielle par l’ADLC sur le fonctionnement concurrentiel du secteur du cloud —  LJA (September 13, 2022)
  • Saisie des correspondances avocat-client : la Chambre criminelle maintient sa position restrictive - mais pour combien de temps ? — Lexbase Avocats (July 8, 2022)
  • Antitrust in the digital sector: an overview of EU and national case — Concurrences (June 30, 2022)
  • France: pratical insight into private antitrust litigation — Global Competition Review (June 24, 2022)
  • France: changes and firsts for the FCA — Global Competition Review (June 24, 2022)
  • DAMITT 2020 Report: Antitrust merger enforcement trends amid the pandemic
  • Protection des données personnelles : l’Europe en première ligne — Les Echos (June 15, 2022)
  • DAMITT 2020 Report: Antitrust merger enforcement trends amid the pandemic, Brexit, and U.S. elections — M&A Review (April 1, 2021)
  • Contrôle des concentrations en France et dans le monde : chiffres-clés et grandes tendances des autorités de concurrence en période COVID — Fusions Acquisitions Magazine (March 1, 2021)
  • Digital Market Act : De nouveaux pouvoir pour la Commission européenne ? — Le Journal du Management Juridique et Réglementaire (March 1, 2021)
  • European Commission repurposes powers to capture deals not meeting filing thresholds in the EU — Dechert OnPoint (March 31, 2021)
  • EU Court of Justice: Financial Investors Liable for Anticompetitive Conduct of Portfolio Companies — Dechert OnPoint (January 29, 2021)
  • Europe, Middle East and Africa Antitrust Review 2021: France: Merger Control — Global Competition Review ( 17 août 2020)
  • Antitrust Merger Reviews in the Time of COVID-19: How the Pandemic Is (and Is Not) Affecting Process and Timing — ICLG (March 31, 2020)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus: Litigation — Dechert OnPoint (March 30, 2020)
  • Impact of COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic on European Antitrust Enforcement — Dechert OnPoint (March 26, 2020)
  • L'Autorité de la concurrence, meilleur rempart au pouvoir des Gafa ? — Les Echos (November 28, 2019)
  • Évolution du contrôle de la Cour d’appel de Paris sur les décisions de l’Autorité de la concurrence : Passé, présent, futur — Concurrences (November 18, 2019)
  • Common ownership - A practitioner's view — Concurrences (May 1, 2019)
Services
    • Ecole Normale Supérieure, -, 2006
    • Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, -, 2006
    • Université de Paris XI - Paris-Sud, M.A. in EU Business Law, 2007
    • Paris
    • Registered Foreign Lawyer, England and Wales
    • French
    • English
    • Member of the board of APDC (Association des Avocats Pratiquant le Droit de la Concurrence)
    • Paris Court of Appeal, Antitrust Section – Référendaire, Commissioner Maureen K. Ohlhausen