Experience
Emmanuel is a highly experienced lawyer, whose practice focuses on sports law, competition law and commercial law.
In the field of sports law, he is essentially working for rights holders (mainly professional leagues and organizing bodies of major sporting events), marketing agencies, clubs and, to a lesser extent, sponsors.
In the field of competition law and commercial law, he mainly focuses on antitrust and commercial litigation (both before competition authorities and judicial courts), merger control and state aids, in various sectors (mass distribution, entertainment, media, industry, energy, etc.), both in France and at an international level.
Memberships
- Association des Avocats pratiquant le Droit de la Concurrence.
Testimonials
Ranked by Chambers Europe 2021 in Band 1 in sports law and Band 4 in competition law.
Chambers Europe 2021 – Sports law: "Emmanuel Durand left De Pardieu Brocas Maffei and joined DWF in February 2021. He advises organising committees, clubs and leagues on contractual issues and refinancing mandates. He is also well versed in acting for clients on competition law matters".
Chambers Europe 2021 – Competition law: "Emmanuel Durand left De Pardieu Brocas Maffei and joined DWF in February 2021. He frequently advises clients on litigations and regulatory compliance related to competition law. One source agrees that he is "clearly an expert in this field.""
Chambers Europe 2020 – Sports law: "Emmanuel Durand (…) advises organising committees, clubs and leagues on contractual issues and refinancing mandates. He is also well versed acting for clients on competition law matters".
Chambers Europe 2020 – Competition/European law: "Emmanuel Durand is engaged by clients on litigations and regulatory compliance related to competition law. He is also well versed with state aid mandates".
Legal 500 EMEA 2020 – EU competition/distribution: "Emmanuel Durand has a great network and strong analysis skills".
Chambers Europe 2019 – Sports law: "Emmanuel Durand (…) assists clients with contractual matters, including marketing media and naming rights (…). Clients highlight his pragmatic and strategic approach, saying: "He gives advice that goes beyond the legal aspects, he really gets the business logic behind the legal issues"".
Recent Cases
- Advising the organizing committee of one of the most important worldwide sporting events in an important number of matters, including the elaboration of tender processes, the negotiation and drafting of partnership, licensing, hospitality and audio-visual contracts, etc.
- Advising a French professional sporting league on legal issues linked to the renegotiation of marketing and audio-visual agreements following the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Advising a French professional sporting league on the validity under competition law of a closed-league system.
- Advising a marketing agency on the elaboration of tender processes for the commercialization of audio-visual sporting rights.
- Advising a retailer in the drafting of distribution agreements.
- Advising a food company in the follow-up of commitments taken before a competition authority in the scope of the clearance under conditions of a merger operation.
- Advising several companies in private enforcement matters.