BERNARDAMORYI

12 NOVEMBER 2001

BERNARD AMORY IS ONE OF THE LEADING TELECOMS LAWYERS IN THE WORLD. AFORMER EUROPEAN COMMISSION OFFICIAL WHO HELPED TO REVOLUTIONISE THEINDUSTRY, HE HAS CONTINUED TO RIDE THE TELECOMS WAVE IN PRIVATE PRACTICE

Ilike American firms,” says Bernard Amory, top tele-coms/competition lawyer at Jones Day in Brussels. “Ilike their culture and management. They’re democra-tic: people are assessed by their value as lawyers

alone.” That and their ability to bill some 2000 hours ayear. Not that this is a problem for Mr Amory – a keyplayer in several of the most significant telecoms deals inrecent years (see box), who also features in this issue’s‘Europe’s Top 50’.

Global stage“Ten years down the line, there will be many more lead-ing non-Anglo lawyers in rankings lists,” Amory predict-ed in March, 2000, when we profiled him for the ‘World’sTop Twenty Lawyers’ (see Issue 37). “Mergers with UKand US firms will enable continental lawyers to becomebigger players on the global stage.”

They’re already well on their way. Of our ‘Europe’s Top50’, up to a third are from US or UK-based firms on the

“

ELECOMSPIONEER

By Bronwyn Eyre

AN INTERVIEW WITH BERNARD AMORY

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IBERNARDAMORY

COMMERCIAL LAWYER 13

continent – such as Amory – or from merged UK/US-continental firms.

Except for his time at the European Commissionbetween 1989 to 1991, 43 year-old Amory has practisedexclusively at American firms. Before joining Jones Day in1996, he worked at Dechert Price & Rhoads (now knownas Dechert, merged with English firm Titmuss Sainer), aPhiladelphia-based firm that was one of the first US firmsto open in Brussels.

“US firms used to send in people to run their offices inEurope,” Amory says. “Now, many are run by Europeans– people who grew out of the organisation or were later-ally hired from outside. There’s no doubt that the legalworld is still dominated by Anglo-Saxon firms. But thatdoesn’t mean that Anglo-Saxon lawyers are running thelegal world – at least in Europe.”

Half of Jones Day’s European offices (see box) are cur-rently run by local lawyers. “Our firm, in Europe, has

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THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT THE LEGAL WORLD IS STILLDOMINATED BY ANGLO-SAXON FIRMS. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT ANGLO-SAXON LAWYERS ARE RUNNING THE LEGAL WORLD – AT LEAST IN EUROPE.

BERNARDAMORYI

14 NOVEMBER 2001

reached a level where we can rely on internal growth,”Amory says. “We have an increasing number of youngpeople who are making their way through the ranks.

And the firm continues to expand – most recently inMilan and, next, in Rome. “Jones Day is not a recententrant into Europe like some other American firms,”Amory says. “I like a firm where I can contribute to theexpansion, but which has a sufficiently strong base that Idon’t have to start from zero.”

LiberalisationStarting from zero is what Amory had to do at theEuropean Commission when he was in charge of apply-ing competition rules to the computer and telecommuni-cations sectors.“It was an exciting time,” he says.“In 1990,key directives were being adopted that really set thegroundwork for the liberalisation of the telecoms indus-try. We opened up the market to competition.”

For the first time, governments moved away frommonopolies and authorised second operators to enter themarket. “There was great expectation that mobile tele-phones would become a huge business,” he says. “Andlook at them today: everyone has one. Look at theturnover – it’s absolutely huge!”

Does he have any criticisms of the Commission fromhis perspective now, in private practice? “Over the last fewyears, the EC has changed its mind in the middle of vari-ous cases,” he says, “which creates a lot of uncertainty.”

One such case involves mobile ‘roaming charges’.Amory’s client, GSM Association, which consists of morethan 500 mobile telecoms operators in 170 countries,notified the Commission of its standard roaming agree-ment and inter-operator tariffs in 1996, and again in1998. The EC issued a so-called ‘comfort letter’ in April2000, stating that after careful analysis, it approved of theindustry’s proposals. However, last month, in an about-face, it announced that it was launching an investigationinto alleged anti-competitive behaviour in the mobileindustry.

What was behind the change? “Sometimes there arepolitical considerations,” Amory admits. “There’s also alack of continuity: people at the Commission used to

work in one sector and stay in that sector. Now, they movearound, and somebody who starts a case may not finish ittwo years later.”

All in all, however, his experience at the Commissionwas positive. “I’m a big believer in Europe,” he says. “Ithink the EC is very much in line with the global econo-my and, specifically, with what the Americans are doing.In competition matters, for instance, there’s very closecooperation.”

He cites the attempted merger between MCI,WorldCom, and Sprint last year – which he, acting for BTand AT&T, helped to block. “The merger was blocked byboth US and European authorities for the same reason:these three companies would have been unassailable byanybody else – and everybody would have been depen-dent on them for exchanging internet messages.

“It’s fun to block things,” Amory says of the MCI case.“Every time I’ve had such a big project I’ve thought, god,it can’t get any bigger than this. And then, another casehas come along that was even more challenging. My prac-tice has always exceeded my expectations.”

Other cases that he counts among his most significantare the first global alliance between MCI and BT in 1993– when he was still at Dechert – and their later merger in1998. He also mentions his successful opposition of themerger between Sweden’s Telia and Norway’s Telenor, onbehalf of Tele Denmark, before the EU in 1999.

A major deal of the moment – currently in the processof closing – is the acquisition of GE Americom, theAmerican satellite company, for Amory’s client, SociétéEuropéene des Satellites (SES). “As a European,” Amorysays, “it’s nice to help a small European company based inLuxembourg to obtain a business in the US that will makeit the largest satellite operator in the world. Because gen-erally, it’s the Americans who buy out things.”

More sophisticatedWhy did Amory originally choose telecoms law? “Therewas no doubt it was going to be a very rich area from thecompetition law point of view,” he says. “There were statemonopolies and a huge demand for more and better ser-vices. Inevitably, there were going to be issues of liberali-sation and abuse of dominant position. Companies hadto learn to cooperate, which, in turn, also led to joint ven-tures and mergers and acquisitions.”

Naturally, the sector has evolved considerably over thelast decade or so.“When I started practising,” Amory says,“there were very few people in the area. Now, it’s becomemore sophisticated. The more lawyers and business peo-ple there are, the more imaginative you have to become.

“A couple of years ago,” he continues, “it was all about

BELGIUMLeading firms

1 Jones Day, Reavis &Pogue, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, Weil, Gotshal& Manges

2 Allen & Overy, Cleary,Gottlieb, Steen & HamiltonCoudert Brothers –Coppens van Ommeslaghe& Faurès FreshfieldsBruckhaus Deringer,Olswang

3 Baker & McKenzie, White& Case, Wilmer, Cutler &Pickering

4 Bird & Bird, De Bandt, vanHecke, Lagae & Loesch,Liedekerke WoltersWaelbroeck Kirkpatrick &Cerfontaine, Stibbe

Firms are listed alphabetically ineach band.

BRUSSELS OFFICE established 1989

Partners: 5 Other lawyers: 13

Key practice areas:

Banking/finance � Commercial �

Corporate transactions � Dispute resolution �

European Union � Labour and employment �

New technologies � Securities � Tax

FRANKFURT OFFICE established 1991

Partners: 11 Other lawyers: 39

Key practice areas:

Banking/finance � Commercial/restructuring �

Corporate transactions � Competition and trade �

Labour � Dispute resolution � New technologies �

Real estate � Securities/capital markets � Tax

LONDON OFFICE established 1986

Partners: 10 Other lawyers: 38

Key practice areas:

Banking/finance � Commercial/restructuring �

Competition and trade � Corporate transactions �

Environmental � Labour � Dispute resolution �

New technologies � Real estate � Securities � Tax

JONES DAY IN EUROPE

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IBERNARDAMORY

COMMERCIAL LAWYER 15

global alliances. Now, it’s about sharing infrastructure forUMTS [Universal Mobile Telecommunications Services]networks, which raises all sorts of competition issues.Governments have extracted such high – probably exces-sive – fees for the 3G mobile networks, that operatorsneed to be very imaginative in order to reduce the costs.”

Will people want to pay for 3G services? “There’s a lotof uncertainty today,” Amory admits, “but there wasabout 2G as well. And as we know, there’s so much usenow that there’s a lack of capacity.”

Teenage crisisHow does Amory – who represented BT duringMannesmann’s takeover of Vodafone (thereby ensuring therights of third parties to access the merged network) – assessthe telecoms mega-mergers that started two years ago?

“In such a capital-intensive sector, large organisations

are normal,” he says. However, he admits that the industryis currently in something of a ‘teenage crisis’: “Some com-panies have disappeared, and others have consolidated –which is to be expected at this stage of the cycle,” he says.“After the liberalisation, a lot of people tried to get into themarket – sometimes with limited success.” Reorganisationis currently taking place: “There are some financial diffi-culties in the sector,” he acknowledges. “And it’s less fun toreduce debt than to build. But we will build again.”

In the meantime, Amory the ‘techno-Eurocrat’, as oneBelgian peer refers to him, is off for a weekend of fishingand hunting in the Belgian Ardennes.

Does he ever have trouble justifying his professed loveof nature and bird-watching with an equal love of shoot-ing? “Yes, sometimes,” he says. “It’s rather like justifyingcertain complex transactions before the EuropeanCommission.” �

MILAN OFFICE established September 2001

Partners: 6 Other lawyers: 14

Key practice areas (expected):

Corporate transactions � Labour � New technologies

� Securities � Tax

MADRID OFFICE established January 2000

Partners: 8 Other lawyers: 12

Key practice areas:

Banking/finance � Commercial/restructuring �

Competition and trade � Corporate transactions �

Dispute resolution � New technologies �

Securities � Tax

PARIS OFFICE established 1970

Partners: 14 Other lawyers: 47

Key practice areas:

Banking/Finance � Commercial/restructuring �

Competition � Corporate transactions � Dispute

Resolution � Labour � New technologies � Real

estate � Securities � Tax

Deals

� EU clearance for Concert alliance between BT andAT&T (1999)� Regulatory counsel outside the US to SociétéEuropéenne de Satellites for its acquisition of GEAmericom (2001)� Represented Tele Denmark, as a shareholder ofBelgacom, in the (failed) merger between Belgacomand KPN (2001)� Represented AirNewco (Air France, American,British Airways, Continental, Delta, Iberia Airlines,SA Air Group, United, and UPS) before EUCommission in connection with the formation ofCordiem, aviation’s first B2B exchange jointly ownedby buyers and sellers.

Cases against Governments

� Acts for Bouygues S.A. and Bouygues Telecombefore the EU Commission against the French Statein complaints on level of fees for UMTS licenses inFrance (2001)� Acts for Bouygues Telecom in its complaint againstthe French State in relation to the Universal ServiceFund (currently before European Court of Justice)� Represents BUPA before the European Commissionin relation to Irish operations

Successful oppositions

� Acted for BT and AT&T before the EU in its opposition to the MCI/WorldCom/Sprint merger (prohibited by EU Commission) (2000)� Acted for Tele Denmark in its opposition to attempted Telia/Telenor merger, which led to imposition of local loop unbundling conditions (1999)

Article 81 cases

� Represents Aventis S.A. in the Vitamins cartel casebefore EU Commission� Represents GSM Association before EU in inquiryinto international roaming charges� Represents MasterCard in case before EUCommission on interchange fees

Article 82 cases (abuse of dominant position)

� Represents Sonera in defending complaint to theEU Commission on national roaming in Finland(2001)� Represents ESAT Telecom before European Courtof Justice in interconnection case (2001)

RECENT PROJECTS HANDLED BY BERNARD AMORY

BELGIUMLeading individuals

� AMORY Bernard Jones Day CANTOR David Weil, Gotshal & Manges

1 ALEXIADIS Peter SquireSanders & DempseyDOLMANS Maurits ClearyGottlieb, SteenGLAS Geert Allen & OveryMETAXAS George Weil,Gotshal & MangesVAN LIEDEKERKE DirkOlswang

2 BRANDENBURGER RachelFreshfields BruckhausSPINKS Stephen CoudertBrothers

3 DUVERNOY ChristianWilmer Cutler & PickeringGUTERMANN Arne Baker & McKenziePOWELL Mark White & Case LLPRAMSEY Thomas Squire,Sanders & DempseySTEENBERGEN JacquesAllen & OveryTOPPING Simon Bird & BirdVENIT James Skadden,Arps, Slate, MeagherVERHEYDEN AlexandreJones Day

Individuals are listed alphabeticallyin each band.

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