Best law firms

Brussels Office Since:

Firm Description

Steptoe is a law firm headquartered in Washington DC, with other offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Our firm is recognized for leading regulatory depth in a range of industries, as well as for its investigations, litigation and government affairs practices. In Brussels, we help clients with regulatory issues and disputes arising from the implementation of EU law and regulation in EU competition, chemicals, environment & life sciences, international trade, customs, export control, and sanctions, data protection, and financial services and re/insurance.

Owner Structure

Limited Liability Partnership.

International Structure

Steptoe has offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Washington DC. The firm is also the Washington, DC member of Lex Mundi, the largest law firm network with 160+ member law firms. Through local knowledge built from hands-on, accrued experience of how markets develop and the forces and factors that affect them, together with the Lex Mundi membership Steptoe has the connections and capabilities to help shape innovative strategies in any industry, at any level, and in virtually any place in the world.

Key Strengths

In Brussels, our key strengths are a) compliance including EU antitrust and competition (defence of corporations in investigations before the Commission (DG COMP) as well as national competition authorities, in appeals before the EU Court of Justice, and in follow-on litigation in civil courts; distribution and e-commerce; merger and joint ventures; exclusionary practices; and EU antitrust compliance); b) EU Chemicals; and c) international trade and customs.

Thought Leadership

• The ECHA Board of Appeal and the Court of Justice: Comparing and Contrasting Chemicals Litigation
• Antitrust Enforcement Post E-Commerce Sector Inquiry: Where Do We Stand Now?
• Customs (under) Valuation – Lessons for Brexit; More on Brexit and Customs here.

Testimonials and why clients like to work with us

According to Chambers & Partners Europe 2018 and Legal 500 EMEA 2018:

Clients enthuse that “for EU legislation, our first point of contact is Steptoe.”

Clients are “very pleased with the firm’s knowledge and expertise in the area of EU environmental regulations, “adding that “the team is really good at helping us to understand the general interpretations.”

The (competition) team at Steptoe & Johnson LLP provides ‘prompt, knowledgeable and accurate’ advice.

Sources recognise Steptoe & Johnson’s strong profile in international trade law and appreciate that the lawyers are “genuine and passionate and really know what they are talking about.” Others add: “The team has an excellent reputation in Brussels. We have been working with them on trade activities and with great results.”