Michael L. Denger is the senior antitrust partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and co-chairs the Firm's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group. In May 2004, Chambers Global named Gibson Dunn the 2003 U.S. Antitrust Law Firm of the Year.
Mr. Denger's practice is concentrated in domestic and international antitrust and trade regulation law, false advertising law, and litigation. For over 35 years, he has been actively involved in all aspects of antitrust and trade regulation matters before federal and state enforcement agencies and courts, including merger and acquisition investigations and litigation, federal and state civil antitrust investigations, consent order modifications, false and misleading advertising investigations and litigation, grand jury proceedings, dealer termination cases, the defense of criminal and private treble damage cases (including class actions), and the prosecution of plaintiffs' antitrust actions. He has represented clients in a variety of industries, including chemicals, vitamins, semiconductors, software applications, agricultural products, milk, bread, securities, batteries, polyolefins, polysilicon, razor systems, tobacco products, mass transit and railway signaling, rail transportation, financial planning, financial services, telecommunications, broadcast and cable television, ticketing services, consumer credit and bond rating services, boating, beer, pharmaceuticals, energy, plastic packaging, paper products, paint and finishings, pet food, soft drinks, automobiles, automotive products, alcoholic beverages, health care products, grocery products, hospital services, and health insurance, among others.
Mr. Denger was Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law in 1992-93. He also was Vice Chair of the Editorial Board for the Section's Antitrust Law Developments (2d ed. 1984) treatise and a contributor to subsequent editions, co-Editor-in-Chief of the Section's three-volume treatise, State Antitrust Practice and Statutes (1990), Editorial Chair of the Section's treatise on Federal and State Price Discrimination Law (1991), and Chairman of the task force which prepared the Section's Monograph No. 2, Vertical Restrictions Limiting Intrabrand Competition (1977). Mr. Denger was one of the five members of the ABA Antitrust Section Task Force on the Federal Antitrust Agencies (2001), which prepared a report to the new administration on "The State of Federal Antitrust Enforcement – 2001." He also served as a member of the 2004 Section Task Force on Antitrust Remedies. Previously, Mr. Denger co-chaired the ABA Antitrust Section Health Care Reform Task Force which, in 1994, published a 92-page book addressing the competitive issues raised by pending legislative proposals to reform the health care system. He also appointed and served as a member of the Section's Special Task Force on Competition Policy, which released its report to the Clinton Administration in March 1993. He further served in 1992-94 on the ABA President's Working Group on Health Care Reform and in 1991-92 was a member of the ABA President's Working Group on Civil Justice System Proposals.
Mr. Denger also has spoken on a wide variety of antitrust and trade regulation subjects at over 125 programs sponsored by business and professional groups. His published articles have appeared in Antitrust, Antitrust Report, and the Antitrust Law Journal. He serves on the Board of Editors of Antitrust Report. Mr. Denger also served for six years, from 2000 through 2005, as an adjunct professor of antitrust law at Washington and Lee University and is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Antitrust Council. Last year, on June 27, 2005, he testified before the Antitrust Modernization Commission, at its request, on proposals for reform of state indirect purchaser actions.
Mr. Denger received a B.S. degree with highest distinction from Northwestern University in 1967. Mr. Denger graduated from Harvard Law School cum laude in 1970. He was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1970, and to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1978. He is also admitted to practice in various federal courts of appeals and district courts.
His biography has been included in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in Finance and Industry, Chambers Global "The World’s Leading Lawyers" (2005), Practical Law Company's "Competition Law: The Law and Leading Lawyers Worldwide" (highly recommended in competition/antitrust) (2004-05), Who's Who Legal's "The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers" (2005) and "The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers and Economists" (2005), Euromoney Publications Plc's Expert Guides: Competition and Antitrust Lawyers – United States (2005), Mondaq's Guide to Leading Competition Attorneys (2003), and Chambers USA, America's Leading Business Lawyers (2005).