Gibson Dunn Adds Antitrust Partner Andres Font Galarza in Brussels

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Mar 12, 2010, 04:30 ET

BRUSSELS, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that Andres Font Galarza has joined the firm as a partner in the Brussels office. Galarza, a former senior official in the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition who joins the firm from Mayer Brown, is particularly known for his merger expertise and his leading contributions to various antitrust policy debates, including vertical restrictions and Internet distribution.

"We are very excited about bringing in Andres," said Ken Doran, Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. "Our antitrust and competition practice is increasingly global, and Andres will add to our depth and expertise in assisting our clients before the European Commission. Andres has an exceptional reputation in private practice and as a former senior official of the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition. Our antirust group is recognized for excellence throughout the world in civil litigation, criminal investigations and M&A and other administrative matters. Andres' addition will add to that strength and better position us to meet the needs of our clients in a seamless manner around the world."

"Andres is extremely well-known and highly regarded in the Brussels antitrust world," said David Wood, Partner in Charge of the Brussels office. "He brings us additional capability, particularly in the merger and distribution fields and complements our strengths in high-tech sectors. Having worked with Andres when we were both at DG Competition, I know that he will fit in well with us and continue to grow his already impressive practice."

"Gibson Dunn has one of the best reputations in the antitrust arena," said Galarza. "The firm's superb antitrust practice and its renowned litigation platform will be of great benefit to my clients."

Gibson Dunn's Brussels office was opened in 2003. Anchored by partners Peter Alexiadis and David Wood, the Brussels team handle a wide range of antitrust and regulatory matters, particularly in the IT, telecoms and financial services sectors.

About Andres Font Galarza

Galarza is a former senior official of the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition, where he spent 13 years, including three as Deputy Head of the Unit that was in charge of enforcing EC Competition law in the sector of consumer goods and foodstuffs. At the Commission, he was involved in over 300 cases, including 40 merger reviews.

He is experienced in antitrust issues relating to mergers, joint ventures, distribution issues, monopolisation and cartels. In addition, Galarza provides strategic and policy advice to clients in regulatory matters affecting sectors such as consumer good brands, pharmaceuticals, energy, information and communication technologies (ICT) and the EU internal market freedoms. He also has comprehensive government experience in seminal ICT cases (media and music publishing, information industries, consumer electronics and software) involving complex regulatory issues.

Galarza is a regular lecturer on antitrust and competition matters in many international forums, has numerous publications with editions in several languages (English, Spanish, French, Chinese, etc.) and is an author of one of the leading works on European merger control, "Merger Control in the European Union. Law, Economics and Practice," (Oxford University, 2005).

Galarza was at the European Commission from 1993 to 2008 and at Mayer Brown since 2008. He received his LLM from the College of Europe, Bruges in 1991 and his law degree from the University of Valencia in 1986. He is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

About the Brussels Office

The Brussels office is the hub of the Gibson Dunn's Competition Law practice in Europe, working alongside the London, Paris and Munich offices and in close cooperation with our long-established antitrust practice in the United States, to serve the firm's clients on all aspects of European Union and EU national competition law, including competition advocacy.

The Brussels office represents clients across all industries in complex mergers, acquisitions and joint venture clearances before the European Commission and EU national competition authorities; the defence or prosecution of actions for the abuse of a dominant position, including allegations of joint dominance; cartel investigations; the structuring of various vertical and horizontal relationships for all forms of distribution, intellectual property licensing and cooperation arrangements; the assessment of State Aids schemes; and advising on the interface between intellectual property rights protection and competition rules.

The Brussels office has a leading position in advising both major market actors and regulators across the European Union in the communications sector (telecommunications, broadcasting and Information Technology) on the processes of market definition and market analysis made in accordance with competition rules. Other network industries where the Brussels office also has significant experience include the financial services sector, as well as in the aviation, media, security, and pharmaceutical sectors.

About the Firm

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is a leading international law firm. Consistently ranking among the world's top law firms in industry surveys and major publications, Gibson Dunn is distinctively positioned in today's global marketplace with more than 1,000 lawyers and 16 offices, including Brussels, Century City, Dallas, Denver, Dubai, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Orange County, Palo Alto, Paris, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Singapore, and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.gibsondunn.com.