David Wood is an English qualified partner and a member of the Brussels Bar based in the Brussels office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he serves as Partner-in-Charge of the office.

Mr. Wood's practice encompasses the full range of antitrust issues, including cartels, merger control (often involving the co-ordination of cases before several different competition authorities), abuse of dominance, restrictive agreements, sector inquiries and private enforcement. He has particular experience with cases involving abusive pricing and refusals to supply by dominant undertakings, as well as the establishment of joint dominance and network-related issues. He has strong sectoral expertise in the financial services and media / high-tech sectors.

Mr. Wood began his legal career in 1986 working in the London and Brussels offices of a major international law firm, where he practiced litigation and commercial law, particularly where antitrust issues were involved.

From 1992, he spent 10 years at the antitrust enforcement division of the European Commission (DG Competition) including positions as Head of the Financial Services Unit and Acting Head of the Media Unit. During his time at the Commission he was responsible for the teams involved in some of the most hard-fought cartel cases and some of the most high-profile and complex media, transport and financial services cases.

He was also a member of the Commission working groups responsible for most of the significant developments in EU antitrust policy and appeared regularly before the European Courts of Justice.

In 2002, Mr. Wood returned to private practice in Brussels. As one of the few lawyers in private practice to have held a senior position in DG Competition, he brings to his clients not only deep experience of European antitrust enforcement, but also valuable insights into how to manage risk and avoid problems.

Since leaving the Commission, he has advised and represented a wide range of companies principally in the financial services and media sectors but also in the pharmaceutical, chemical, software, consumer electronics and transport sectors. 

Mr. Wood has been recognized as a leading European antitrust practitioner by a number of industry publications including Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, PLC and GCR. According to Chambers Global 2008 edition, Mr. Wood is renowned for his deep experience of the full range of European antitrust enforcement. His "strategic mind and pragmatic, business-oriented approach" is especially valued by clients. He was commended by  The European Legal 500 2008 for his antitrust expertise in relation to the financial services, media and hi-tech sectors, and was singled out by a client source as "an outstanding competition lawyer who knows our business very well and provides prompt and practical legal advice" in the same publication. Mr. Wood was also identified as a "recommended lawyer" for EU competition law by the 2008 edition of Practical Law Company's "Which Lawyer?". He has also been recommended for EU competition law by Global Competition Review's "Who's Who of Competition Lawyers" 2008 edition.  He is recommended for Competition/European Law in Chambers Europe 2008. 

( For a detailed view of our EU competition law capabilities, please view our brochure, European Competition Practice [PDF] )

He is a frequent writer and speaker on competition law issues and is a member of the editorial board of Competition Law Insight.

Recent Publications