Andrés Font Galarza is a Spanish qualified partner and a member of the Brussels Bar, based in the Brussels office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Mr. Galarza’s practice encompasses antitrust issues relating to mergers, joint ventures, distribution issues (especially relating to online commerce), IP, the abuse of dominance and cartels. In addition, he provides strategic and policy advice to clients in regulatory matters affecting sectors such as the Internet, consumer goods brands, pharmaceuticals, health and food, energy and the EU internal market freedoms. He has significant experience in dealing with European privacy issues, in particular those raised by the digital economy.
Mr. Galarza is featured as a leading lawyer for Competition/European Law in Chambers Global 2012 and Chambers Europe 2012, which have noted: “highly respected Andrés Font Galarza brings a wealth of experience to the team thanks to his time at the EC” and have also described him as “a strong asset to the practice” and “a very proactive counsel”. He is also recommended by Legal 500 EMEA 2012 for Belgium: Competition, which describes him as “alert and responsive”, and by Best Lawyers 2012 for Belgium: Competition.
Mr. Galarza is a regular lecturer on antitrust and competition matters in a variety of international forums and has authored a number of publications that have been reproduced in several languages (including in English, Spanish, French and Chinese). He is an author of one of the leading works on European merger control, “Merger Control in the European Union: Law, Economics and Practice” (Oxford University Press, Chinese edition published by Law Press China). He is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Galarza spent 15 years as a senior official of the European Commission, of which he worked for 13 years at the Directorate General for Competition in charge of important cases, particularly in the ICT and consumer goods sectors.
Selected Publications
Co-author of "Exclusive Distribution: An Overview of EU & National Case Law", e-Competitions National Competition Laws Bulletin (Number 41235), January 2012.
Co-author of " The EC Review of the Vertical Restraints Policy in the Context of Internet Commerce " in "Vertical Restraints and Distribution Agreements Under EU Competition Law" (edited by Charles Gheur and Nicolas Petit), Brussels School of Competition/Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, 2011.
Co-author of "Selective Distribution of Branded and Luxury Products and the Conjuncture of Online and Offline Commerce in the Light of the European Commission's Revision of the Vertical Restraints Regime", Global Competition Policy, March 2009.
Author of the chapter "Private Labels and Article 82" in "Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy, The Changing Landscape of Retail Competition" (edited by Ariel Ezrachi and Ulf Bernitz), Oxford University Press, 2008.
"The Elevators Cartel Decision", EC Competition Policy Newsletter, September 2007-Number 2.
Co-author of “The Interface between Competition Policy and International Trade Liberalisation. Looking into the Future: Applying a new virtual anti-trust standard”, World Competition, March 2004.
Co-author of "Merger Control in the European Union. Law, Economics and Practice" (Foreword by Mr. Van Miert and Mr. Monti), Oxford University Press, October 2002. Second Edition published in 2005, Chinese Edition published by Law Press China in 2009 (Foreword by Commissioner Kroes).
"The Interface between Antitrust and Intellectual Property Rights. A Quest for Coherence", International Business Lawyer, 2002.
"Mergers and Joint Ventures in the New Economy", IBC, March 2001.
"The British Interactive Broadcasting Decision and the application of competition rules to the new digital interactive television services", Competition Policy Newsletter, October 2000.
"The Commission's Assessment of the Eurovision System Pursuant to Article 81 EC", Competition Policy Newsletter, June 2000.
"La Retransmission des Evénements Sportifs en Regard des Règles de Saine Concurrence", Université Libre de Bruxelles, March 2000.