Latham & Watkins hires Sascha Schubert from Freshfields for Brussels antitrust role

Schubert’s recruitment signals that top-tier law firms are aggressively scaling their Brussels presence to manage the European Commission's heightened enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). For streaming and tech platforms, this indicates a shift toward proactive regulatory defense as the EU moves from designation to active non-compliance investigations against 'gatekeepers.' As platform interoperability and data-sharing mandates become central to EU antitrust strategy, firms are prioritizing specialized litigators who can navigate both traditional merger control and the specific technical requirements of new digital frameworks. Watch for increased legal activity around core platform service designations as the EU prepares its next review of DMA enforcement efficacy in 2026.

The hiring comes as the European Commission intensifies its scrutiny of large digital platforms designated as 'gatekeepers' under the Digital Markets Act. Per the European Commission, as of March 2024, six major tech firms including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft were required to meet the regulation's initial compliance deadlines. Since then, the EC has opened several non-compliance investigations, most notably into Apple and Meta regarding their 'steer' and 'pay-or-consent' models respectively, per Reuters in June 2024. In May 2024, Booking.com was also designated as a gatekeeper, further expanding the reach of the DMA's fair-trading and interoperability rules.

Latham & Watkins has been steadily expanding its Brussels antitrust bench to meet this demand. In May 2025, the firm added Alfonso Lamadrid from Garrigues, another prominent expert in Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act (DSA) litigation. This recruitment strategy reflects a broader trend among U.S.-based global firms to secure local talent in Brussels who possess deep reputations before the DG Competition. According to Global Competition Review in early 2026, Latham remains one of the most active firms in handling complex Phase II merger reviews, particularly in the telecommunications and healthcare sectors where regional regulation often dictates global deal outcomes.

The regulatory landscape is also shifting toward cloud and AI services. Per Tech Policy Press in April 2026, the European Commission's first formal review of the DMA has focused on whether interoperability mandates should be extended to social networking and cloud computing core platform services. While the Commission recently decided against an immediate expansion into social networking due to technical complexity, it is continuing to monitor the sector for market foreclosure. For multinational firms, these evolving standards mean that legal strategies must now account for parallel enforcement from both the EU and the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.