Understanding the Differences and Potential Overlaps: When Is It Antitrust, and When Is It Trade Law?

Kojiro Fujii specializes in the fields of competition law and international trade law. He also covers emerging areas of digital policy/regulations and public policy/regulations, such as those related to sustainability. His expertise in these areas is frequently recognized by international and domestic legal publications. Kojiro also is regularly ranked by Chambers (Band 1 International Trade, Japan and Band 2 TMT, Japan) and Who’s Who Legal (Competition). He achieved the highest ranking in the “International Trade and Economic Security” category of Nikkei’s “Most successful lawyers” (as voted by Japanese companies and peer lawyers) in 2022; he was recognized by Asian Legal Business as one of the Top 15 Technology, Media and Telecommunications Lawyers in Asia in 2023; and he was shortlisted for the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia-Pacific as the Most Innovative Practitioner for his work covering those areas in 2024.

In addition to his career at N&A, he served as the deputy director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, where he handled several important WTO disputes on behalf of the Japanese government. He also worked at a highly reputable international law firm in Washington DC, where he focused on antitrust matters.

She has practiced for over 8 years at a leading international law firm in Brussels. Her practice covers, inter alia, merger control, cartel investigations, abuse of dominance, and antitrust compliance. She has particular expertise in FSR filings & compliance, guiding numerous international companies through in-house data collection processes.

Kristina draws on first-hand experience from the European Commission in Brussels and the Japan Fair Trade Commission in Tokyo. She has counseled across a wide range of industries - such as automotive, electronics, heavy industries, and logistics - with a strong focus on helping Asian corporate clients navigate European regulatory challenges. She has also spoken on the FSR developments at the Competition Law Forum Japan.

Kristina holds law degrees from Germany and France and is admitted to the German Bar in Munich (Rechtsanwältin) and the Brussels Bar (EU registered lawyer / E-list, Ordre Français). She is a member of the German-Japanese Lawyers’ Association, as well as the Antitrust Lawyers Association in Germany.

With regard to EU law, Victor advises governments and corporations on how to navigate the intricacies of EU regulations with a particular focus on assisting clients impact the legislative developments of new regulations and comply with them. Victor also assists companies and governments in trade remedy investigations. He has advised clients in over fifty anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations, successfully obtaining no or low duties for exporters in several instances. Furthermore, Victor has extensive experience in litigating before the Court of Justice of the European Union where he has successfully challenged several measures adopted by the EU institutions.

Turning to international economic law, Victor assists governments in WTO proceedings before panels and the Appellate Body and other appeal arrangements. His experience also includes advising governments and multinational corporations on a variety of economic policy matters such as providing legal opinions regarding the legality of measures adopted by the EU as well as third countries under international trade and investment law. Finally, Victor often assists governments with international trade and investment negotiations by helping them develop persuasive arguments during negotiations and ensure compliance with agreed upon rules.

Victor also teaches part of the course on international trade law at Cambridge University.