James Ashe-Taylor

James Ashe-Taylor is a Partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He is a member of the Firm's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Group and has served as Partner-in-Charge of the Firm's London and Brussels offices.

Mr. Ashe-Taylor’s practice focuses on competition law at European Community level and in the United Kingdom.  He specializes in merger control, state aid and the antitrust aspects of joint ventures, distribution and agency agreements.  He has significant experience in European cartel investigations with a private US litigation dimension and has represented clients (both companies and individuals) in a number of recent prominent cases (rubber chemicals, grocery retailing, marine hose, air cargo).  A former barrister, Mr. Ashe-Taylor advises on antitrust litigation and has also represented clients before the UK VAT and Duties Tribunal.Mr. Ashe-Taylor’s recent representations include:

• acting for Zoopla on its acquisition of Digital Property Group;
• acting for Vivendi on its acquisition of See Tickets;
• acting for Ticketmaster on its merger with Live Nation (OFT and Competition Commission investigations);
• advising Hewlett Packard on its acquisition of Autonomy plc;
• acting for Watson Wyatt on its merger with Towers Perrin;
• acting for Delta Air Lines in relation to the investigation of the SkyTeam Alliance by the European Commission;
• acting for a Japanese client in relation to the marine hose cartel investigation;
• acting for a major US branded goods manufacturer in relation to the OFT investigation of the UK grocery retailing sector.

Mr Ashe-Taylor's other recent representations include significant matters on behalf of Amazon, AT&T, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Euronet Worldwide, Investcorp, Marriott International, MoneyGram and Pfizer-Wyeth.

Mr. Ashe-Taylor is recommended in the field of competition law by Practical Law Company's Which Lawyer? 2011.  He was also recognised as a leading lawyer in the same publication in 2007-2010.  The Firm's London antitrust practice is also recognized in Legal 500 (2011).

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr Ashe-Taylor spent two years at JP Morgan, Inc. in London and New York. He is fluent in French and German.

Publications and speaking engagements:

• "Due Process: what does it mean in a Divided World?", Competition Law in Transition: Trends and Challenges, Dubrovnik, June 2011.
•  "Recent Developments in UK and EC Merger Control", speech to the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, Tokyo, October 2010.
•  "Competition Law and the Banking Crisis: Eighteen Months on", paper delivered to State Aid, Merger Control and Anti-Competitive Practices Conference, (Lexis Nexis), October 2009
• "Antitrust Interest in Private Equity", Business Law International (IBA), May 2008.
• Contributing Author to "Antitrust Year-in-Review", IBC Competition Law Conference, May 2006.
• Co-Author of "EU Competition Law and Third-party Access to Gas Transmission Networks", Utilities Law Review, June 2005.
• "The Criminal Aspects of UK Cartel Investigations", Chair, May 2005. 
• "The Urge to Merge vs The Need to Merge". Speech delivered at IBC Communications and EC Competition Law Conference, 2004.
• Structuring, Negotiating & Implementing Strategic Alliances, 2003. Chairs: James Ashe-Taylor, Kenneth A. Clark.  Practising Law Institute.
• "The Future of Tax Policy in the EU - From 'Harmful' Tax Competition to EU Corporate Tax Reform."  Report of the CEPS Tax Task Force.  Centre for European Policy Studies, 2000.