​Trey Nicoud is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of the firm’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice and its Litigation Department.

Mr. Nicoud concentrates his practice on antitrust litigation and counseling. He represents clients in both civil and criminal investigations and lawsuits, and advises clients on a variety of antitrust matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution practices, and licensing.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Nicoud served as Associate General Counsel of American Airlines, Inc., where he managed antitrust, environmental, intellectual property, and occupational safety and health legal services. While at American Airlines, Mr. Nicoud led the successful defense of United States v. AMR Corp., 140 F. Supp. 2d 1141 (D. Kan. 2001), aff’d, 335 F.3d 1109 (10th Cir. 2003), assisted in the company’s successful purchases of BusinessExpress, RenoAir, and substantially all of the assets of TWA, advised on the formation and structuring of alliances, and managed the company’s response to a variety of lawsuits and government investigations.

Mr. Nicoud served on the Editorial Board for Antitrust Law Developments (Seventh), one of the leading treatises on U.S. antitrust law.  Chambers and Partners ranks him in Band 3 for California Antitrust.  He is also recognized as a leading antitrust practitioner in Global Competition Review’s International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers and Economists, Institutional Investor’s Benchmark Litigation Guide, and as a Northern California “Super Lawyer” for antitrust litigation.​​  Most recently, Mr. Nicoud had been recognized in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers in America for his work in the field of antitrust litigation.

Mr. Nicoud’s representative matters include:​​​

• Lead counsel for MITSUBA Corporation in antitrust grand jury investigations and class actions alleging that suppliers of various auto parts conspired to fix the prices of and rig bids for various automotive parts. ​
• ​Lead counsel for ALPHA Corporation in an antitrust grand jury investigation and in class actions alleging that suppliers of vehicle access mechanisms conspired to fix the prices of and rig bids for those automotive parts.
• Lead counsel for NEC TOKIN Corporation in an antitrust grand jury investigation and in class actions alleging that producers of capacitors conspired to fix the prices of electrolytic capacitors.
• Lead counsel for NEC TOKIN Corporation in class actions alleging that producers of lithium ion batteries conspired to fix the prices of those batteries.
• Lead counsel for Norbord Industries Inc. in class actions alleging that producers of oriented strand board (“OSB”) conspired to fix the price and reduce the supply of OSB. The class actions were settled shortly before trial for a small fraction of the claimed billions of dollars in damages.
• Co-lead counsel for Los Gatos Tomato Products in a criminal investigation of possible price-fixing of processed tomato products and in related civil antitrust litigation.​
• Representation of Atlantic Coast Airlines in its successful efforts to defeat a takeover effort by the parent of Mesa Airlines, thereby allowing Atlantic Coast to pursue its plans to cease operating as a regional carrier for United Air Lines and instead launch Independence Air.
• Competition counsel for Marriott International in connection with the formation of RoomKey.com.
• Representation of Sempra Energy in a civil class action alleging that Sempra Energy and its affiliates conspired with a natural gas pipeline company to limit the supply of natural gas to California, thereby causing the California energy crisis in the year 2000. The case was tried for several weeks before a jury in California state court, but was settled on favorable terms before plaintiffs finishing putting on their case.