David Wood is an English and Belgian qualified partner in the Brussels office of Gibson Dunn and co-chairs the Firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice Group. He has lived and worked in Brussels since 1991.

Mr. Wood’s practice encompasses the full range of antitrust issues, including cartels, merger control, abuse of dominance (monopolisation), restrictive agreements, sector inquiries and private enforcement.  He has strong expertise in the financial services, media/high-tech, and transport sectors.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Wood 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. He is one of the few lawyers in private practice to have held a senior position in the European Commission, and brings his clients both deep experience of European antitrust enforcement, and offers practical solutions into how to manage risk and avoid problems.

Mr. Wood is well-known for his deep experience of the full range of issues involved in European antitrust enforcement and is consistently recognised as a leading European antitrust practitioner.  Recent awards include: The Legal Business Awards Runner-Up Competition Team of the Year 2018 for his representation of complainants in the EC’s Google investigation; Global Competition Review 2017 Merger Control Matter of the Year Europe for Microsoft/LinkedIn; Antitrust Writing Awards 2016 for the Best Business Article – Unilateral Conduct;  Global Competition Review 2014 Behavioural Matter of the Year Europe for his representation of UBS in the LIBOR and related matters; Global Competition Review 2013 Matter of the Year for the FTC Investigation of Google.

Who’s Who Legal has included Mr. Wood in it’s inaugural edition of “Thought Leaders – Competition”, and Chambers Global ranks him as a leading lawyer for Competition/European Law. It noted that peers acknowledge him as a “very strong lawyer” and “clients…laud his ability to quickly cut to the core of an issue and understand how it fundamentally affects their business”. Mr. Wood is also ranked as a leading Competition/European Law lawyer by Chambers Europe, which has cited him as “extremely smart” and “capable of quickly latching onto key issues”. Chambers has previously commented that his “strategic mind and pragmatic, business-oriented approach” is especially valued by clients.

Mr. Wood has been commended by Legal 500 for his antitrust expertise in relation to the financial services, media and hi-tech sectors and, in recent editions, has been singled out by client sources as “an outstanding competition lawyer who knows our business very well and provides prompt and practical legal advice”, “exceptionally knowledgeable”, “open, co-operative, timely and reliable” and “provides practical, easy-to-understand advice”. In addition to Legal 500 EMEA 2018, he is ranked by Legal Experts EMEA for EU and Competition, by PLC Which Lawyer? for EU Competition (since 2006) and Telecoms, Media & Technology (since 2010), and by Chambers Europe 2017 for EU Competition (for the ninth consecutive year), in which clients have described him as “he understands business necessities and is very responsive – he provides good work and high-quality output.” He is also listed as a leading lawyer for EU Competition by IFLR 1000 2015, recommended for Belgium: Competition/Antitrust Law by Best Lawyers 2018/9, ranked as a leading practitioner worldwide in the current edition of Global Competition Review’s International Who’s Who of Competition, and is described by GCR 100 2015 Global Elite as being a ‘master negotiator by immunizing UBS from a €2.5 billion fine in the European Commission’s Libor/Euribor settlement’. He is also recommended in Brussels by the German publication JUVE Handbuch 2016/7.  He was also nominated by in-house counsel and peers as one of the pre-eminent lawyers in the world by Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Competition & Antitrust Lawyers/Economists (9th Edition). He is a frequent writer and speaker on competition law issues, is a member of the editorial board of Competition Law Insight, and is a visiting lecturer on competition law at King’s College London.