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Vanessa C. Edwards  Partner
London  +44.(0)20.7360.8293
Fax +44.(0)20.7648.9001
vanessa.edwards@klgates.com Add to Outlook Contacts


Areas of Practice Representative Experience Professional Background Professional/Civic Activities Speaking Engagements Education Additional Information Languages

Areas of Practice

Vanessa Edwards is a partner in our London office. Her experience means that she is uniquely placed to advise on the implications of European Union regulation for business and on strategies to influence the legislative process. Ms Edwards focuses her practice on trade and regulatory matters involving EU law, with particular emphasis on EU environmental legislation including REACH (Regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals), and on EU international trade, competition, public procurement and State aid law.

Representative Experience
  • Representing a subject of an EU cartel investigation.
  • Advising on the application and interpretation of REACH in numerous contexts and sectors.
  • Advising on the interpretation of the Energy-using Products Directive.
  • Advising on numerous distributorship and sales agreements.
  • Advising a Chinese private equity fund on the EU regulation of pesticides.
  • Advising on visa requirements for the EU and Schengen area.
  • Advising on numerous aspects of the EU public procurement legislation, including remedies.
  • Advising an applicant to the European Court of Human Rights on rights and remedies under the European Convention on Human Rights.
  • Advising on EU anti-dumping duties.
  • Advising on EU customs classification, import duties and export controls.
  • Advising on EU legislation governing the sale of goods.
  • Advising on the scope of the block exemption from EU State aid rules for aid for environmental protection.

Professional Background

Ms. Edwards joined K&L Gates in 2008 after 15 years at the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") in Luxembourg, the ultimate arbiter for ruling on the interpretation of EU law.  At the ECJ, she was involved in several hundred cases in a wide variety of areas, including anti-dumping, biotechnology, capital movements, competition, consumer protection, copyright, cross-border trade, customs, environmental regulation, financial services, insolvency, parallel imports, public procurement, state aid, tax and trade marks.  Before working at the ECJ, Ms. Edwards had spent 10 years in practice at an international law firm in London. She is also Visiting Professor of EU Company Law at King's College London and European Case-law Editor for the Oxford Journal of Environmental Law.

Professional/Civic Activities
  • Visiting Professor, King's College London
  • Editorial Board Member of Buckley on the Companies Acts
  • European Case Law Editor, Journal of Environmental Law
  • UK European Law Association (Member)
  • Law Society's Competition Group (Member)
  • UK Environmental Law Association (Member)
  • Procurement Lawyers Association (Member)

Speaking Engagements
Ms. Edwards lectures on European and Comparative Company Law as part of the Masters course at King’s College London and has been invited to Loyola University School of Law, New Orleans, as guest lecturer in EU company law.   She has spoken at numerous national and international conferences and Webinars on various areas, including:
  • “Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Trading – An EU Perspective” (Webinar)
  • “How to Give the Edge to Your EU Procurement Practice” (London)
  • “ABA Antitrust Update – EU and International Developments” (Webinar)
  • "Applying the EU procurement rules to major projects" (London and Brussels)
  • "Enforcement and infringement of intellectual property rights in the EC" (Brussels and Zurich)
  • "The 'in-house exception' to the application of the EU public procurement rules" (Brussels)

Education
  • LL.M., London School of Economics Law (1989) (merit)
  • LSF, College of Law (1981)
  • CPE, College of Law (1980)
  • B.A., University College London (1977)
Additional Information
Publications
  • EC Company Law (OUP)
  • Chapter on the European Company Statute for Buckley on the Companies Acts (Lexis Nexis)
  • Contributor to The Oxford Encyclopaedia of EC Law (OUP)
  • Chapters in Gore-Browne on EU Company Law and Gore-Browne on Companies (Jordans)
  • Sections on public procurement and State aid in Croner’s Europe
  • EU case-law editor for the Oxford Journal of Environmental Law
  • Numerous K&L Gates alerts, updates and newsletters on public procurement, REACH, international trade and competition law
  • Numerous journal articles on EU company law
  • A series of articles on "Nanosubstances and REACH" in the NanoBusiness Alliance Newsletter
Please visit the Newsstand to view a comprehensive collection of Ms. Edwards' publications.

Languages
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Dutch


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