DLA Piper strengthens Antitrust and Competition offering in Russia with new partner hire

DLA Piper has appointed Denis Gavrilov as a partner in the Moscow office and Head of the Antitrust and Competition practice in Russia. Denis joins the firm from Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev and Partners, together with senior associate Karin Ovakimyan.

A Russia-qualified attorney-at-law, Denis has extensive experience working on high-profile antitrust regulatory matters, as well as IP/unfair competition investigations and litigation. Top-ranked by Chambers, GCR100, Pravo.ru-300 and other legal directories, he represents clients before the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS Russia) and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) in connection with investigations on anticompetitive agreements, abuse of dominance and unfair competition. He also advises clients on obtaining regulatory approvals on transactions, and trade and compliance policies while challenging FAS Russia decisions.

Before moving into the private practice in 2015, Denis served for more than seven years as Deputy Head of the FAS Russia legal department and participated in multiple complex antitrust investigations and developing antitrust legislation.

With a PhD in law, Denis continues to actively pursue academic and teaching activities. He is Deputy Head of the Competition Law Department at Kutafin Moscow State Law University, as well as the author of numerous academic papers on competition and IP law. Denis is also a member of the Public, Methodology and Science boards of FAS Russia, the Antitrust Counsel board of the EEC, the General Council of the Competition Experts Association, and a member of the ICC Competition Commission.

DLA Piper’s Country Managing Partner in Russia and the CIS, Constantine Lusignan, said: “We welcome Denis to the team and are confident that under his leadership we will be in a position to significantly broaden our Antitrust and Competition offering in Russia and enhance our standing in the market.”

Denis Gavrilov added: “Joining DLA Piper is a new challenge and a great honour. The firm has a very strong global brand, and I am really looking forward to bringing my skills and expertise to the team, as well as expanding our client offering.”