Mara Ghiorgies

Mara Ioana Ghiorghies

Associate
Baker & McKenzie Services Limited

Biography

Mara Ghiorghies is a Senior Associate member of the Baker McKenzie Global Compliance and Investigations team, with a particular focus on antitrust/competition law and international trade. Mara advises clients across a number of sectors on global regulatory reviews of cross-border conduct and transactions, building defence strategies and securing commercial settlements. Mara has also spent time working in Baker McKenzie's Brussels and Tokyo offices.

Mara was nominated as a Rising Star in the Euromoney LMG Europe Women in Business Law Awards 2018.

Practice Focus

Mara has particular experience in advising large brand manufacturers, financial institutions and industrials on a wide range of antitrust behavioral issues, including horizontal competitor collaboration, pan-European vertical distribution networks, market power issues and abuse of dominance, and merger filing requirements. She passionately represents clients in the management of internal and external investigations, including developing robust compliance programs, responding effectively to dawn raids and requests for information from UK and EU antitrust authorities, conducting in-depth forensic investigations, audits and witness interviews, securing favourable settlements with government agencies and developing defence strategies in competition damages litigation.

Representative Legal Matters

  • Advising a manufacturer of musical instruments on a series of parallel national antitrust investigations into resale price maintenance.

  • Advising a global financial institution on a series of significant multijurisdictional investigations into breaches of competition law, financial services regulation, and compliance policies.

  • Representing the Brands for Europe, a coalition of global brand owners in connection with the European Commission’s review of the EU Vertical Restraints Block Exemption & Guidelines.

  • Advising a number of Japanese conglomerates on EU and UK merger filings processes and securing full approvals.

  • Represented a large media company in the European Commission dawn raid and investigation in respect of sports media rights

  • Advising a multinational pharmaceutical company on an internal investigation covering possible breaches of antitrust, regulatory and anti-bribery and corruption laws.

  • Advising a Japanese conglomerate on the European Commission's investigation into a global cartel, including in respect of reporting strategies, fining policies, settlement, relevant defence matters and potential civil litigation exposure.

  • Advising a leading manufacturer of electronic products in a contested EU investigation, leading to a successful acquittal.

  • Advising a number of large consumer goods companies (including IT, cosmetics, electronics) on distribution agreements, including on risks arising in respect of resale price maintenance, territorial restrictions and online sales.

  • Advising private equity companies on EU and UK merger control and liaising with the EU and UK authorities on merger notifications.

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Steering Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce Young Competition Network - Member
  • Law Society of England & Wales

Admissions

  • England & Wales~United Kingdom (2014)

Education

  • King's College London (Master of Arts EU Competition Law) (2016)
  • College of Law at Moorgate (2011)
  • King's College London (Bachelor of Laws European Legal Studies) (2010)

Languages

  • English
  • French
  • Romanian

Publications

  • Co-author, “In Search of the Perfect Settlement Procedure”, Taking Competition Law Outside the Box Liber Amicorum Richard Whish QC (Hon), March 2020
  • Co-author, “European competition law enforcement: time to settle our differences”, European Competition Law Review, Volume 41: Issue 2 2020
  • Author, "Information Sharing in Cartel Investigations," American Bar Association, Section of Antitrust Law, Fall 2017
  • Co-author, "Competition law enforcement surges in the UK," Baker McKenzie Client Alert, July 2017
  • Co-author, "Five things that really matter on an EU antitrust dawn raid," Baker McKenzie Client Alert, May 2017