Michele Carpagnano

Partner, Dentons

Based in Rome, Michele Carpagnano heads Dentons’ Competition and Antitrust group in Italy.

Michele provides national and multinational companies with legal advice and judicial assistance in all aspects of Italian, Spanish and EU Competition Law, Foreign Direct Investment Rules (FDI), Consumer Law, Merger Control, State Aid Law, antitrust issues related to tender procedures (bid rigging) and market regulations. He has achieved specific expertise in the FDI field in particular by providing legal assistance in relation to the preparation and filing of FDI forms to the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers and by providing judicial assistance in relation to the appeal of FDI decisions before Administrative Courts.

He represents national and multinational companies as well as public institutions in administrative proceedings before the Italian Competition Authority, Administrative Courts and also before the General Court and the Court of Justice of the EU (public antitrust enforcement). He also represents clients in Competition / Consumer laws litigation – both single and class actions claims – before Italian Courts (private antitrust enforcement).

Further, Michele assists clients in the design and implementation of tailored Antitrust and Consumer Law compliance programs and in the implementation of audit antitrust. He advises local, national and EU Institutions on legislative / regulatory proposals related to Competition and Consumer laws. He has gained specific expertise in the enforcement of Antitrust rules in the following sectors: financial, environment, insurance, agri-food, energy, pharmaceutical, air and rail passenger transport, telecommunication and Digital Economy.

Michele’s practice in Italy is highly recommended by leading legal directories. It is described as “one of the best in Italy… Its strength lies in its being guided by international professional Michele Carpagnano, who knows this area perfectly,” (The Legal 500, 2021). He was also recently mentioned in the “Elite” category of the “Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms in Italy” rankings of Milano Finanza 2021 for Competition and Antitrust.

In addition to his role at Dentons, Michele holds a teaching position at the University of Trento, Faculty of Law. He is also the Founder and Co-Director of the independent research institute, Osservatorio Permanente sull’Applicazione delle Regole di Concorrenza and the Founder and Scientific Director of Osservatorio Golden Power. He founded and co-directs Trento Summer School on Advanced EU Competition Law & Economics. Michele also published three books on private antitrust enforcement and several articles on competition law issues.