Jens-Olrik Murach is a German qualified partner admitted in Germany and a member of the Brussels Bar. He is based in the Brussels and Frankfurt offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice Group, with more than 15 years of experience practicing antitrust law in Brussels and Germany. Mr. Murach is a member of the Gibson Dunn’s Pro Bono Committee.

Mr. Murach’s practice covers the complete range of EU and German antitrust issues, including merger control, restrictive practices, market dominance, cartel investigations, sectoral investigations, compliance and antitrust litigation.  He also advises on EU State aid and public procurement matters.

He has advised on many complex merger control matters in his career, both before the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office, e.g., most recently on Telefónica/E-plus (representing a third-party), Marriott/Starwood and PepsiCo/SodaStream.  Mr. Murach also has strong experience in managing global merger control investigations in virtually every part of the world.

Mr. Murach regularly represents companies in cartel and abuse of dominance investigations before both the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office including leniency applications, settlement negotiations, and appeals against fines before courts. He also has strong experience in advising on vertical distribution matters, such as setting-up selective distribution systems.

Mr. Murach also has strong experience in commercial and administrative antitrust litigation before German courts and the Courts of the EU in Luxemburg.

He is a frequent author and speaker on antitrust issues. He has authored a handbook on German Merger Control (Deutsche Fusionskontrolle, Erich Schmidt) and co-authors a leading German commentary on EU antitrust law (Frankfurter Kommentar zum Kartellrecht, Otto Schmidt).

He is a visiting lecturer on German and European antitrust law and procedure in the white collar crime Master program at the University of Osnabrück in Germany, and regularly lectures at the Academy of European Law (ERA). Mr. Murach is a member of the academic advisory board of a leading German antitrust law journal, Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb (WuW).

Mr. Murach is widely recognized as a leading antitrust lawyer.  He is described as “highly experienced” and “well regarded in the German antitrust community” by the JUVE Handbook 2015/6 and 2017/8 among the leading Antitrust practitioners in Brussels and Germany, and as “super antitrust lawyer” by the JUVE Handbook 2016/7. He is listed as a future leader in the Brussels chapter of the 2017 and 2018 issues of Who’s Who Legal: Competition Future Leaders – the guides to the world’s leading competition experts aged 45 and under.  He is also included in the 2020 The Best Lawyers™  Germany listings for both Competition/Antitrust Law and Litigation.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Murach practiced in a renowned German law firm, where he headed the EU & competition practice.  Before that, he practiced with a leading international law firm in the Düsseldorf, Brussels and New York offices.

He speaks German and English.

Selected Publications and Speaking Engagements

• Co-author of “The EU Court of Justice rules in favour of restrictions on the use of platforms in a selective distribution system (Coty)”, 6 December 2017, e-Competitions Bulletin March 2018 – II, Art. N° 86552.
•  Co-author of “The Düsseldorf Court of Appeals confirms a decision of the Bundeskartellamt against all prohibitions or restrictions imposed in relation to online sales made by traditional distributors (ASICS)”, 6 April 2017, e-Competitions Bulletin April 2017, Art. N° 86551.
• ERA Summer Course on European Competition Law, July 2018, lecturing on “Cartels, information exchange, tacit collusion and oligopoly issues” and on “The impact of vertical agreements on competition”.
• ERA Summer Course on European Competition Law, July 2016 and July 2017, Lecturing on “EU policy towards horizontal agreements: guidelines on horizontal cooperation and block exemption regulations” and on “EU policy towards vertical agreements: the block exemption regulation and its explanatory guidelines”
• 2016 Antitrust Merger Enforcement Update and Outlook
• 2015 Year-End Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
• Global Competition Review Know How –  Immunity, Sanctions & Settlements – Germany
• Author of article “Aktuelle Entwicklungen im Kartellbußgeldrecht” (Recent Developments in the law on antitrust fines), GWR 2013, 353.
• Panelist, ABA webinar, “Navigating the Globe: Cartel Enforcement Around the World – Chapter 13: Germany”, ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Cartel and Criminal Practice Committee and International Committee, 18 July 2013 at 11 am EST/5pm CET.
• Author, “Deutsche Fusionskontrolle” (Handbook on German Merger Control), published by Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2011.
• Commentator, Articles 11 – 14 of Council Regulation (EC), “Frankfurter Kommentar zum Kartellrecht” (Frankfurt Commentary on Competition Law), published by Dr. Otto Schmidt, No 1/2003.