Litigation

Antitrust and Competition

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Repeatedly recognized as a top global competition practice, Gibson Dunn has over 250 practitioners across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and a winning track record in all areas of antitrust law.

7-time Law360 “Competition Group of the Year” winner

250+ practice lawyers in 16 offices across the globe

We represented defendants in the highest number of antitrust cases filed in the U.S. from 2018-2022, according to Lex Machina’s 2023 Antitrust Litigation Report

Team includes former high-ranking officials from the DOJ, FTC, and U.K. Competition and Markets Authority

Overview

A Global Antitrust & Competition Powerhouse

Gibson Dunn is a leading antitrust firm globally, serving clients across a broad array of industries with world-class practitioners in every significant area of antitrust and competition law. Our practice encompasses high-stakes litigation against government agencies and private parties, securing regulatory clearance for complex transactions, defending against large-scale global government investigations, and providing general compliance counseling.

Our results demonstrate why leading companies worldwide call on us when the stakes are highest and the path to success is most challenging.

Our integrated team, which includes former government officials and first-chair trial lawyers, brings extensive competition experience across the globe. Recognizing that antitrust law often intersects with other legal areas, we assemble well-rounded teams across offices and practices to address issues from multiple perspectives. Our antitrust & competition team collaborates closely with attorneys in Gibson Dunn’s other practice groups to provide efficient, comprehensive, and coordinated service for our clients. With best-in-class lawyers across disciplines, our clients benefit from our vast experience in tackling regulatory and litigation matters, particularly those requiring expertise from other areas of law, including appellate, class actions, data privacy, employment, intellectual property, and technology.

United States
Gibson Dunn has been a leading antitrust firm in the United States for over 50 years. With lawyers located in all of our U.S. offices, we are well-positioned to effectively represent our clients’ interests in venues across the country and around the world, working closely with colleagues in Europe and Asia. We advise on all facets of antitrust, including civil litigation, class actions, merger clearance, cartels, and government investigations.

Europe
Our lawyers have a wealth of experience in the European legal environment and a proven record of successfully handling even the most challenging EU or national merger, abuse of dominance investigations, cartel investigations, and other competition issues with a multinational dimension. Our team offers extensive experience and insight on the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) among others.

Asia
Based out of our Hong Kong office, we advise clients on the full spectrum of competition issues in Asia, including mergers, cartel and abuse of dominance investigations, and litigation. We provide high-end strategic advice for clients facing investigations by the Hong Kong Competition Commission and litigation before the Competition Tribunal.

By leveraging our global reach and deep expertise, Gibson Dunn remains at the forefront of antitrust law, delivering exceptional results for our clients in the most complex and high-stakes matters.

Gibson Dunn’s Antitrust & Competition Practice is ranked among the “Global Elite” in Global Competition Review’s GCR 100, a list of the world’s top 25 competition practices. The firm is also ranked by GCR among the top 10 cartel practices, the top 10 non-cartel practices, and the top 10 private litigation practices. The firm is also tier 1-ranked in all major industry publications, including Chambers USA, Chambers Global, Legal 500 and Benchmark Litigation.

We cover all aspects of antitrust & competition:

“Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has deep expertise in antitrust law.”

Chambers USA, client quote

Experience

Recent representations include:

  • Amazon: Lead antitrust counsel in Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical, securing clearance for the company after receipt of a Second Request from the Federal Trade Commission.
  • Apple: Secured a landmark victory defeating antitrust attacks from Epic Games relating to Apple’s core business model. Following a three-week bench trial, which was described in the press as “the Super Bowl of Antitrust,” the court ruled in Apple’s favor on all antitrust claims. Affirmed on appeal by the Ninth Circuit.
  • Chevron U.S.A.: Won summary judgment for Chevron disposing of Section 1 gas price-fixing class action against California refiners in which plaintiffs claimed more than $65 billion in damages (after trebling).
  • Leading technology company: Represented in relation to abusive dominance allegations and unfair trading conditions. Obtained successful resolution in investigation by 30+ state Attorneys General and multiple District Attorneys’ offices, alongside parallel investigations by DOJ, SEC, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
  • LIV Golf: Served as lead antitrust counsel representing LIV Golf (and its affiliated entities), the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, and various professional golfers who play in the LIV golf league, in antitrust and other legal matters relating to LIV Golf’s efforts to start a new premier professional golf tour. In the federal antitrust case against the PGA tour, Gibson Dunn prosecuted the case adeptly. LIV Golf and PGA Tour reached an agreement that resulted in dismissal of the litigation.
  • Merck & Co.: Defending in three lawsuits brought by health plans that opted out of an MDL alleging an unlawful conspiracy to delay generic competition. Gibson Dunn defeated class certification in the MDL portion of the case and secured settlement. The three opt-out lawsuits we are currently defending involve the same reverse-payment theory as was litigated in the MDL, as well as numerous additional theories of monopolization.
  • Ottogi Corporation and Ottogi America.  Complete defense verdict in hours after 5-week jury trial in first of its kind concurrent trial of direct and indirect purchaser antitrust claims.  Jury rejected $415 million in damages (pre-trebling) and found no unlawful agreement in Section 1 conspiracy class actions.
  • UBS AG: Representing UBS in overlapping worldwide regulatory and criminal investigations involving foreign exchange markets, as well as follow-on U.S. class action litigation. Also representing UBS in multiple disputes before the High Court and Competition Appeal Tribunal relating to foreign exchange cartels.
  • VMware: Advised VMware, a leading innovator in enterprise software, on the competition aspects of its approximately $61 billion cash and stock acquisition by Broadcom Inc., before antitrust and FDI regulators across the globe, including in the U.S., EU, UK, China, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, and Taiwan.
  • Multinational Companies and Individuals: Represented multinational companies and individuals in connection with numerous international cartel investigations and antitrust-related U.S. grand jury investigations, including plea negotiations and/or leniency applications in the United States, the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and other jurisdictions.

Practice Leaders