Philip Torbøl is a founding partner of the firm’s Brussels office and is a member of the antitrust, competition, and trade regulation group. Within his practice, he focuses on EU competition law, international trade laws, and internal market.
Philip's representation of clients spans over many industry sectors, with particularly strong expertise in the areas of transport, logistics, travel, digital and technological industries, online distribution, and consumer electronics. He advises clients in all aspects of competition law, including the conduct of dominant companies, distribution practices, cartel investigations, merger control, and state aid.
Beyond his traditional competition law practice, Philip supports clients in their efforts to gain fair access to the EU market and to design efficient distribution strategies within the framework of EU law. In doing that, Philip advises clients in international trade law instruments (WTO, customs and tariffs, trade defence instruments, trade sanctions, fee trade agreements, and other bilateral agreements), as well as other EU legal instruments, such as internal market rules and consumer protection regulations.
A former EU official, Philip is known for his effective approach to defend his clients’ interests, not hesitating to combine various EU law instruments, as well as lobbying, to achieve his objectives. Clients appreciate his practical focus on the commercial impact of any process and action.
Philip is a regular contributor to the debate in specialised publications on EU, Competition Law and Trade policy. He has written numerous articles and spoken on many occasions on competition issues to both general and specialized business audiences. He was shortlisted for the Global Competition Review’s 40 under 40 list.
Philip began his career in the European Parliament in Brussels and was also an executive committee member of the European Commission's Youth Forum.
Prior to joining the firm, he practiced as a partner with another international law firm in Brussels.
- Recognised by The Legal 500 EMEA as a Leading Lawyer for Customs, Trade, WTO and Anti-Dumping in Belgium (2023)
- Ranked in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers Belgium in European Union Law
- Board Member of the Danish Business Leaders Association (DANEX)
- Deputy Chairman of the Danish Conservative Party in Brussels
- “First Ever State Aid Sector Investigation: Electricity Producers Targeted by the European Commission,” Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, June 2015
- "The team is able to provide excellent, pragmatic support on delicate matters under often very tight timelines."
- "The lawyers involved in this practice are very well skilled and proactive, and oriented to take care of the client’s legal needs anticipating and proposing to the client all possible solutions provided by the applicable law."
- "K&L Gates renders its services in a very professional and polite way. The people are very skilled, polite and support their client competently."
- "They are very, very, very accurate, professional and make the clients feel well supported. They explain their advice in a clear and professional way."
- "In my opinion, K&L Gates possess a very experienced team with regards to State aid issues. Also notable are their capabilities and understanding in railway regulation which is probably a unique combination with state aid experience. I am not aware any other office able to deal so fast yet with such a good understanding and experience in these matters. They are also very flexible and able to understand what big companies need also on the formal side of the cooperation."
- The team is highly professional and skilled, and always ready to deeply discuss with the client in order to offer the best solutions. The team is therefore very polite, well-organised and very efficient.
- The team is highly skilled, responsive and available at all times.
- They demonstrate excellent knowledge on the matter and always propose business-oriented solutions.
