Meet our people on secondment: Jacob Giesecke

As our employees grow with us, they get the chance utilize different exchange opportunities, including the possibility of going on a secondment. Meet our people who have been on secondment to client firms, foreign law firms, or our office on the other side of the Baltic Sea.

Next out is our Senior Associate Jacob Giesecke, who recently returned from his secondment at a law firm in Brussels.

What did you do?
I worked as a visiting lawyer/associate at the law firm Slaughter and May, in their competition law team in Brussels. There, they work with European competition law, which includes, for example, cartel investigations and official reviews of company purchases at the EU level.

How did you end up on secondment in Brussels?
Brussels is the European capital of competition law, as the legal area is part of the EU and its legislation. It is therefore close at hand for someone who works in competition law to work here for a while (or the whole career). I have never before met so many competition lawyers in one place!

What were the differences compared to Roschier?
One difference is how incredibly international this workplace was. Among my colleagues were i.a. Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, France, Slovakia, India, Romania, Belgium, and Ukraine represented. A real melting pot. Then they were a bit more continental too, so I was often the first to arrive in the office in the mornings (which I’m not in Stockholm…). I also had to learn to eat lunch at half past two.

What did you bring back with you?
I learned a lot about competition law in general, but perhaps mainly I deepened my knowledge about the practical work vis-à-vis the European Commission in various types of cases. I also brought with me both professional contacts and friendships with people around Europe. And chocolate, of course!