Ein lachender Mann in einem schwarzen Anzug, weißem Hemd und Silberkrawatte, trägt Brille, vor einem unscharfen hellen Hintergrund.
Ein lächelnder Mann in einem schwarzen Anzug, weißem Hemd und grauem Krawatte, trägt Brille, vor einem hellen, unscharfen Hintergrund.

Dr. Kim Manuel Künstner.

Antitrust Law · Data, Digital & Governance, Partner.

Practice Areas: Competition Law, Compliance Advice, Internal Investigations, Data, Digital & Governance

Languages: German, English, Spanish

About Dr. Kim Manuel Künstner:

As a member of the Competition Law Practice Group, Dr Kim Manuel Künstner advises national and international companies on all aspects of German and European competition law, as well as merger control. As part of his work, Mr Künstner represents companies in competition law fine proceedings brought by the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office. This also includes representing affected companies before the General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

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In addition, Mr Künstner provides compliance advice, particularly for digital markets and the food industry. His consultancy covers, amongst other things, the legally compliant introduction and implementation of artificial intelligence, as well as protection against and the mitigation of cyberattacks. He is co-editor of the book *Platform Governance and Law* and co-host of the compliance podcast *RECHTSANWALTER & LEBENSKÜNSTNER*.

His expertise is also in demand in the fields of association and policy consultancy. He regularly acts as an expert witness in the German Bundestag, for example on issues relating to the Digital Markets Act, the 11th Amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) or the implementation of the Unfair Trading Practices Directive. In addition, he regularly prepares legal opinions, for example for the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Environment on fair pricing in the food value chain, or on the legal feasibility of breaking up the Amazon Group for Lobby-Control.

In the field of merger control, Mr Künstner advises on national, European and global merger proposals before the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission; most recently, for example, on the merger of two leading global plant manufacturers in a complex, multi-jurisdictional merger procedure, which was cleared by the German Federal Cartel Office after 12 months of in-depth review.

In addition, Kim Manuel Künstner also provides legal advice on all aspects of drafting contracts in compliance with competition law. This encompasses both the establishment and dissolution of forms of cooperation between competing companies (e.g. joint ventures, consortia) as well as distribution and commercial relationships (structuring of special offers, supply claims, discount schemes for dominant undertakings).

Furthermore, Mr Künstner represents companies in antitrust damages claims, including in the plant protection cartel, and delivers lectures and training sessions to clients on the subject of antitrust compliance.

Biography:

Kim Manuel Künstner, geboren 1981, studierte Rechtswissenschaften an der Universität Heidelberg und der Universität Barcelona. Nach seinem ersten Staatsexamen verfasste Herr Künstner unter der Betreuung von Prof. Dr. Müller-Graff (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg) eine Doktorarbeit auf dem Gebiet des deutschen und europäischen Wettbewerbsrechts, die mit der Note „summa cum laude“ bewertet wurde. Während seiner Promotion war Kim Manuel Künstner als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter in der Düsseldorfer Niederlassung einer großen internationalen Anwaltskanzlei sowie am Institut für Europarecht der Universität zu Köln tätig. Im Rahmen seines Referendariats absolvierte er sein Wahlpraktikum in der Kartellrechtsabteilung einer großen internationalen Anwaltskanzlei in Köln. Herr Künstner ist seit März 2013 bei SCHULTE LAWYERS. tätig und seit 2018 Partner.

Antitrust/Data, Digital & Governance Team.

Publications.

Plattform-Governance und Recht, Künstner/Louven (Hrsg.), 1. Auflage (2024).

NJW 2019, 17 Kartellverfolgung per Algorithmus.

GRUR 2019, 36 Preissetzung durch Algorithmen als Herausforderung des Kartellrechts.