Brexit: UK antitrust lawyers ‘may move to the EU’

Antitrust lawyers in the UK could relocate to mainland Europe following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union following a referendum last month, the senior partner of Allen & Overy has said.

Wim Dejonghe said that issues related to legal privilege in the context of antitrust laws could lead to an exodus of antitrust lawyers from the UK to the European Union.

“There is one technical issue on legal privilege where under European antitrust legislation there is a question mark over whether that would still be applicable in the UK,” he told Bloomberg TV.

“You might see some of the antitrust lawyers moving into the European Union rather than just being registered in the UK.”

Dejonghe added that there could be an increase in litigation as a result of the Brexit vote. “If the economy goes down, there might be an indirect effect in terms of litigation and renegotiation of contracts.”