Biography: Competition

Volker Weiss has been a partner of Schoenherr since the beginning of 2008, where he specialises in European and Austrian competition law. He is also in charge of Schoenherr's Brussels office.

After graduating from University of Vienna (Mag iur, 1998) Volker Weiss obtained a postgraduate degree from the University of Nijmegen in European business law (LLM, 1999). Following traineeships with Houthoff Buruma in The Hague, the Netherlands (telecommunications and EC competition law, 1999) and with the European Commission (DG competition – banking and insurance, 1999–2000), he worked for Linklaters in Brussels, Belgium (2000–03) and joined Schoenherr in 2003. He was admitted to the bar in Austria in 2005.

Volker Weiss' practice focuses on European and Austrian competition law, representing and advising clients in a wide range of industries. He has particular industry know-how in the banking, insurance, construction, retail and travel sector. He is engaged in all types of public and private litigation as well as out-of-court advice (including compliance work) and in merger control work. Recent headline competition cases handled by Volker Weiss include the merger control proceedings before the European Commission concerning the takeover of the insurance business of Austria's Erste Bank in Central and Eastern Europe by the Vienna Insurance Group, as well the coordination of merger control issues within and outside Europe relating to the acquisition of a strategic interest in construction group STRABAG by the Russian industrialist Oleg Deripaska.

Schoenherr is a leading European law firm with a strong base in Central Europe. About 300 professionals service national and international clients from offices in Belgrade, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Kiev, Ljubljana, Prague, Sofia, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb. The firm has a long-standing tradition of advising clients in all fields of commercial law, providing seamless service that transcends national and company borders. The combination of high quality, competence and efficient problem-solving in complex commercial mandates and transactions is at the core of Schoenherr's philosophy.