Pietro Merlino is a partner in the EU, Antitrust and Regulation department at Legance and focuses on EU and Italian competition law. He assists clients in connection with the application of EU and Italian competition rules across a wide range of sectors (from life sciences to energy, tech and digital economy, banking, insurance, transportations, consumer goods). Pietro advises and represents international and Italian clients in all areas of competition law, including abuse of dominance, cartel and restrictive practices investigations, merger control, civil antitrust litigation (follow-on or stand-alone damages actions), licensing and distribution, as well as on consumer protection and on general EU law issues.
Pietro appears frequently before the EU courts in Luxembourg and the Italian civil and administrative courts, as well as before the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission and the Italian Competition Authority.
Over the years, Pietro has developed a strong, specific expertise in the application of competition rules in the pharmaceutical, energy and transport sectors as well as on the interplay between antitrust law and intellectual property rights (IPRs).
Pietro Merlino is distinguished as a leading professional in EU and Competition Law by Chambers and Partners, where impressed sources state: “He is very smart – he learns and understands the whole picture in a holistic manner and in a very short time”, “Pietro Merlino is very attentive to customer needs, with a great ability to find solutions and to solve complex issues” (2024), “He provides a high level in delivering to and matching client expectations” (2023), “Pietro makes the hardest things easy, and this is very important for the client” (2022), as well as by The Legal 500 – also in healthcare and life sciences – where he is mentioned as follows: “Pietro Merlino has excellent interpersonal skills, as well as undisputed leadership skills that make him appreciated in all contexts, even by his counterparts”, “He is a skilled, motivated and tough, yet fair, counterpart” (2023), “Pietro is a lawyer, who in addition to being highly competent, is very brilliant and imaginative. Thanks to this, he is able to identify winning solutions that are not within everyone’s reach” (2022). Pietro is also recognized by Global Competition Review (GCR 100) where he is referred to as “renowned for his work in the life sciences sector” (2023). In addition, Pietro is mentioned as Most Highly Regarded by Who’s Who Legal (in both the global and national rankings).
Pietro Merlino was honored as “Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Lawyer of the Year” at the TopLegal Industry Awards 2023, as “Competition & Regulatory Lawyer of the Year” at the TopLegal Awards 2021 and as “Consumer Protection Lawyer of the Year” at the Legalcommunity Litigation Awards 2020.
Pietro Merlino has authored numerous publications on competition law. He lectures at several Italian universities and he is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars in Italy and abroad. Pietro is currently a member of the steering committee of the association Concorrenze (which brings together lawyers and economists with expertise in competition law and economics) and a member of Associazione Antitrust Italiana (Italian Antitrust Association).
