Dr. Daniel Dohrn

Antitrust Law and Merger ControlEuropean State Aid LawCommercialCompliance & Internal Investigations

Experience

Daniel Dohrn advises national and international enterprises on German and European antitrust law as well as EU state aid law.

His particular areas of antitrust law expertise are German and European merger control issues (including the coordination of multijurisdictional filings), in the structuring of distribution systems, in antitrust law Compliance advice, in the assertion and defence against antitrust-related damage claims and in investigative proceedings of the cartel authorities before the Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission.

In European state aid law, he primarily advises enterprises, research institutes and universities in research projects and cooperations as well as in proceedings according to the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.

Daniel Dohrn has particular sector expertise in the areas automotive, commerce and aerospace & defence.

Daniel Dohrn is co-head of the Compliance Group at Oppenhoff. In international rankings such as Legal 500, Who's Who Legal and Best Lawyers, he is regularly recommended as one of the leading antitrust lawyers in Germany. In the 2024 JUVE Rankings, Daniel Dohrn is listed as one of the 50 leading lawyers for EU state aid law. In the annually published Kanzleimonitor survey, he is listed as one of the most frequently recommended lawyers for antitrust law. The German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche lists him as a leading lawyer in the field of antitrust law.

Education

Daniel is a Partner and has been a lawyer at Oppenhoff since 2009. He studied law at the Universities of Bonn and Uppsala, Sweden. After concluding his studies he worked as a research assistant at Linklaters Oppenhoff & Rädler. During the further stages of his legal training he worked at the German Federal Cartel Office, at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on areas of antitrust and energy law, as well as in the group legal department of Deutsche Telekom AG, also handling antitrust matters. In 2009 Daniel earned his doctorate (Dr. iur.) on antitrust law at the University of Bonn under Prof. Dr. Wulf-Henning Roth.

Dr. Daniel Dohrn

PartnerRechtsanwalt

Languages
German, English

Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 23
50668 Cologne
T +49 221 2091 441
M +49 172 1479758

Business card

Articles and Essays

Der Sprung aus der analogen Compliancearbeit [The transition from analogue compliance work]
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel dated 17 July 2024, Issue 15, p.3-6 (in collaboration with Marco Degginger)

Interne Untersuchung: Von Bagatelle bis Behördenbesuch [Internal investigation: from trivialities to a visit by the authorities]
Interview in collaboration with Dr. Carsten Bormann 1st Steps on 26 March 2024

"Collusion by Code": Herausforderungen für die kartellrechtliche Compliance ["Collusion by code": challenges for antitrust compliance]
Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb dated 24 August 2023 (in collaboration with Dr. Agnès Reinhold)

EU-Kartellrecht: Neue Regeln für horizontale Kooperationen - Berücksichtigung von Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen [EU antitrust law: new rules for horizontal cooperations – consideration of sustainability initiatives]
DER BETRIEB dated 27 June 2022, Issue 26, pp. 1567-1569 (in collaboration with Dars Ferber and Agnès Reinhold)

Prüfung im Einzelfall empfohlen [Case-by-case examination recommended]
Deutscher Anwaltsspiegel – SustainableValue dated 20 June 2022, Issue 02/2022, pp. 11-13

Kartellrecht in Zeiten der Coronapandemie: Wenn es schwierig wird, darf man zusammen rücken [Antitrust law in times of the corona pandemic: When things get tough, you’re allowed to close ranks]
Legal Tribune Online dated 18 August 2020

Der Teufel steckt im Detail [The devil is in the detail]
Deutscher Anwalt Spiegel dated 01.04.2020, Issue 7, pp. 14-17 (in collaboration with Dr. Vanessa Pickenpack)

Die Geoblocking-Verordnung im Kontext des europäischen Kartellrechts und ihre Auswirkungen auf Vertriebsverträge [The Geoblocking Regulation in the context of European antitrust law and its effects on distribution agreements]
Zeitschrift für Wettbewerbsrecht (ZWeR), January 2020, p. 131 (in collaboration with Christopher Kleinert)

Grenzenlos Einkaufen[Cross-border shopping]
1st Steps Spring Issue 2019, p. 22 et seq.

Daten, Algorithmen und Kartellrecht [Data, algorithms and cartel law]
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel dated 6 March 2019, No. 5, p. 4

Schienenkartell II: OLG Düsseldorf stellt sich beim Anscheinsbeweis gegen BGH [Rail cartel II: Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf takes a different stand to the FCJ regarding prima facie evidence]
Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb dated 1 March 2019, No. 3 (in collaboration with Dr. Vanessa Pickenpack)

Kartellverstöße – Eltern haften für ihre Kinder [Artel breaches – parents are responsible for their children]
PLATOW dated 20 February 2019, No. 21 (in collaboration with Dr. Simon Spangler)

Annotation of ECJ
IWRZ 2018, 267; 31 May 2018 - C-633/16 – Ernst & Young

Der Algorithmus als „Kartellgehilfe [Algorithm as a “cartel aid”? Antitrust compliance in the age of digitisation]
Der Betrieb dated 26 January 2018 p. 173 (together with Linda Huck)

Die Freiheit ist nicht grenzenlos [Freedom is not limitless]
Horizont dated 22 June 2017, p. 20

Innovation und Erfolg absichern [Securing innovation and success]
Innovationsmanager dated December 2014 and January 2015, p. 42 (in collaboration with Dr. Johannes Rabus)

Künftig leichter Regress einfordern [Easier to demand regress in future]
Lebensmittelzeitung dated 16 September 2016, No. 37, p. 32

IT-Vernetzung kann zu Kartellabsprachen führen [IT networking can lead to cartel agreements]
Börsen-Zeitung dated June 25, 2016, p.13

So leicht werden Unternehmen zum Fall fürs Kartellamt [How easily enterprises can become a case for the Cartel Office]
manager magazin dated May 18, 2016

EuGH - Zuständigkeit für Klagen wegen Kartellschäden [The ECJ – competent jurisdiction for cartel damage claims]
Zeitschrift für internationales Wirtschaftsrecht dated January 2015, p. 33

Innovation und Erfolg rechtlich absichern[Securing innovation and success legally]
Innovationsmanager dated December 2014/January 2015, pp. 42 (in collaboration with Dr. Johannes Rabus)

Silberstreif am Kartellhimmel [Light at the end of the cartel tunnel]
promedia dated August 2013, p. 39

Pharmaceutical Antitrust: Germany
Getting the Deal Through 2013, p. 79 (in collaboration with Maxim Kleine and Thomas Utzerath)

Mehr Spielraum für Pressefusionen [More leeway for press mergers]
promedia dated December 2012, p. 25

Zukünftiger potentieller Wettbewerb - ein neuer Maßstab in der deutschen (Presse)Fusionskontrolle? [Future potential competition – a new benchmark in German (press) merger control?]
Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb 2012, p. 355 (in collaboration with Matti Meyer)

Deutsche Fusionskontrolle: Auswirkungen der zweiten Inlandsumsatzschwelle auf mehrere Erwerbsvorgänge umfassende Transaktionen [German merger control: implications of the second domestic turnover threshold on transactions encompassing several acquisitions]
Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb 2011, p. 17

Kartellrecht betrifft auch den Mittelstand [Antitrust law also affects medium-sized businesses]
IHKPlus (notifications of the Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce), Beilage Recht, Steuern & Consulting [supplement on law, taxes and consulting] November 2009, (in collaboration with Eckart Wagner)

Books and Legal Commentaries

Beck’scher Online-Kommentar Kartellrecht [Beck’s online commentary of Antitrust law]
1st edition, 2021, co-author, publisher: Dr. Klaus Bacher / Dr. Rolf Hempel

Deutsche Tochter im internationalen Konzern – Rechtshandbuch für die Praxis [German subsidiaries of international groups – a practical legal handbook]
Munich 2019

Akteneinsicht in Bonusanträge [Inspection of the files in case of bonus applications]
Wettbewerb in Recht und Praxis , Annotation of Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf decision dated 22 August 2012 – V-4 Kart 5/11 (OWi), V-4 Kart 6/11 (OWi), p. 1601 (in collaboration with Dr. Simon Liebich)

Die Bindungswirkung kartellrechtlicher Entscheidungen der Kommission sowie deutscher und mitgliedstaatlicher Kartellbehörden und Gerichte im deutschen Zivilprozess [The binding effect of cartel decisions of the Commission as well as of the German and member state cartel authorities and courts in German civil actions]
FIW-Schriftenreihe issue 232, Carl-Heymanns-Verlag, Cologne, 2010; simultaneously Diss. University of Bonn, 2008

„Verbandsanktionengesetz und Kartellrecht – Schnittstellen und Lessons Learned“ [Law on sanctions against associations and cartel law - interfaces and lessons learned] , 8th Cologne Compliance Day (6 February 2020)

„Aktuelle Entwicklungen im Kartellschadensersatz“ [Current developments in cartel damages], Kartellrecht-Summit 2019 (25 October 2019)

„Sind Wettbewerbsbehörden die neuen Datenschützer? – Zur Facebook-Entscheidung des BKartA“ [Are the competition authorities the new data protectors? – The Facebook decision of the German Federal Cartel Office]; Oppenhoff Digital Campus (28 May 2019)

„Die Geoblocking-Verordnung im Kontext des europäischen Kartellrechts und ihre Auswirkungen auf Vertriebsverträge“ [The Geo-Blocking Regulation in the context of European cartel law and its effects on distribution contracts], Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht (12 March 2019)

„Vertragliche Inhaltskontrolle im Kartellrecht“ [Contractual content review in cartel law], AGB-Symposion (25 October 2018)

“Das neue Wettbewerbsregister – was Unternehmen jetzt beachten müssen” [The new Competition Register – what enterprises now have to watch out for], 7th Cologne Compliance Day (5 June 2018)

“Daten, Algorithmen und Kartellrecht – Herausforderungen im virtuellen Wettbewerb” [Data, algorithms and antitrust law – challenges in virtual competition](in collaboration with Mette Alfter, Frontier Economics), FORUM Institut “Rohstoff Big Data” [Raw material big data] (21 March 2018)

“Kartellschadensersatz: Haftungsrisiko „Kartell“ – das Bußgeld ist erst der Anfang” (Cartel damages: “cartel” liability risk – the fine is just the start”), FORUM Institut für Management GmbH (April 2016)

“Wettbewerb und digitale Märkte” (Competition and digital markets) – Oxera – discussion forum 2016 (11 April 2016)

“Compliance im Mittelstand – Effiziente Compliance Strukturen und Lösungen” (Compliance in medium-sized enterprises – efficient compliance structures and solutions), Symposium Handelsblatt Fachmedien (November 2015)

“Forschung & Entwicklung im Unternehmen” (Research & development in the enterprise), BUJ Syndikus Summit 2015 (April 2015)

“F&E-Kooperationen rechtssicher gestalten” (Legally secure structuring of research & development cooperations), 15th International CAR Symposium (February 2015)

“Aktuelle Entwicklungen im EU Beihilferecht” (Current developments of EU state-aid law), WebiLEX Seminar (May 2014)

“EU Beihilferecht kompakt – eine Einführung” (EU state-aid law compact – an introduction), WebiLEX Seminar (January 2014)

“Haftungsvermeidung in der Reorganisation” (Avoidance of liability during reorganisation), Inhouse Seminar Oppenhoff & Partner (May 2013)

“Compliance Management”, Handelsblatt Manager Training (January 2013)

“Dawn-Raids – wenn das Kartellamt zwei mal klingelt” (Dawn raids – when the Cartel Office comes knocking twice), Kartellrechts-Kompass (March 2012)

Various client training sessions on cartel and EU state-aid law