Profile: Winfred Knibbeler

Competition

Biography: Competition

Winfred Knibbeler is a partner in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's antitrust, competition and trade (ACT) practice group, based in the Amsterdam office. Previously a partner at NautaDutilh, he joined the firm in 2000. He is an experienced Dutch and EU competition lawyer with a strong litigation practice.

Winfred's recent experience includes advising Essent, the largest utility group in the Netherlands, on all competition-related matters in the electricity and gas markets, and CVC on the retroactive approval by the European Commission of the CVK joint venture. Other clients include Reed Elsevier, PepsiCo, Hewlett-Packard, JTI and Shell. Winfred is involved in a number of cartel cases and acts for the joint Dutch cable operators.

He graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in civil and European law, and was also educated in London and Paris. Winfred was admitted to the bar in 1991 and joined NautaDutilh as an associate in the same year, becoming a partner in Amsterdam in 1997. He is the secretary of the Dutch association of competition lawyers and contributes to a large number of academic courses in competition law. He regularly publishes on selected competition topics. He speaks Dutch, English, French, German and Russian. Global Competition Review recognises Winfred as one of 11 individuals "destined for great things" in "40 under 40".

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a leading international law firm with a network of 26 offices across Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East providing a full range of legal services worldwide. Members of the firm's 250-strong ACT group are based in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Tokyo, Vienna and Washington, DC.