
Ilkka Leppihalme
Partner Ilkka Leppihalme has more than a quarter of a century of experience in competition law – including also in Brussels. He has been involved in various landmark competition cases, including the largest cartel cases in Finland and many ‘first-ever’ situations. He possesses significant experience in both national and multijurisdictional merger control procedures across a wide range of industries as well as in foreign direct investment (FDI) control. Leppihalme has represented clients in numerous significant competition law related damages cases. He defended two companies in the precedent-setting asphalt cartel damages cases until the end of the hearing in the Helsinki Court of Appeal – all of the claims against both companies were dismissed. Leppihalme has been a Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network – a network of more than 130 competition authorities – since 2010. He was one of the few members of the Competition Law Expert Group of the Finnish Bar Association in 2010-2024. He is a regular chairman and speaker at competition law conferences and seminars, including being chairman of Finland’s biggest annual commercial competition law conference annually since 2009. Leppihalme is listed as a leading competition law expert in all major international ranking publications, including e.g. being again ranked in ‘Band 1’ by Chambers Europe in 2026, being again ranked in ‘Hall of Fame’ by The Legal 500 EMEA in 2026, being again the only Finnish competition lawyer ranked as ‘Global Elite Thought Leader’ in Lexology Index – Competition 2026, and being again the only Finnish competition lawyer Lexology Index awarded the ‘Client Choice’ award in the Lexology Index Client Choice 2026 report. · Dittmar & Indrenius
About
Partner Ilkka Leppihalme is a competition law specialist with more than 25 years' experience, including work in Brussels and lead roles in landmark cartel and damages cases in Finland. He has extensive experience in national and multijurisdictional merger control and FDI control, serves as a Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network and is widely ranked in international legal directories.
Practice areas
Office
Expertise
Education
- King's College London (LL.M., 2001)
- University of Helsinki (LL.M., 1998)
Admissions
- Finnish Bar Association
- International Bar Association (member)
- Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network (since 2010)