Leading Australian antitrust specialist Dave Poddar has joined Clifford Chance as a partner.
Dave brings over 20 years of experience in the Australian market, and is an excellent addition to our corporate practice,” said Mark Pistilli, Clifford Chance’s Sydney Managing Partner. “He is recognised by colleagues, clients and regulators alike as a leading antitrust practitioner, and we are delighted that he has joined us.”
Dave, who will be based in the firm’s Sydney office, brings the number of Clifford Chance partners in Australia to 16. Further lawyer appointments are expected to follow his arrival, in the antitrust area and elsewhere as Clifford Chance continues to broaden its Australian offering.
“Adding dedicated antitrust expertise has been a priority since our establishment in Australia, given the high concentration within many of the country’s industry sectors,” said Peter Charlton, the firm’s Asia Pacific Managing Partner.
“When overseas clients invest in Australia, or local companies acquire or expand domestically, antitrust issues are very likely to arise. Dave extends the range and quality of services that we can offer to these companies and institutions.”
Dave Poddar graduated with honours in law and economics from the University of Adelaide before joining Mallesons Stephen Jaques (MSJ) in 1989, and was promoted to the partnership of that firm in 1998. After 22 years at MSJ, he joined Allen & Overy as a partner in 2011.
During his career, he has worked on many of the most important antitrust cases and inquiries in Australia, as well as contributing to local and international antitrust development.
Dave’s most recent work prior to joining Clifford Chance included advising SABMiller on the antitrust aspects of its acquisition of Foster’s Group, and Emirates on the antitrust implications of its strategic partnership with Qantas.
His hire is the latest in a number of senior appointments by Clifford Chance’s global Corporate practice including Ying White in Beijing, Johan Ysewyn in Brussels, Aline Cardin in Paris, Claudio Cerabolini in Italy, Gerard Saviola and Alastair Mordaunt in London and Gary Boss, Ivan Presant and Joseph Cosentino in New York.
Dave also joins Clifford Chance’s global Antitrust Law Group, which comprises more than 150 antitrust lawyers and economists based across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific. The Group advises on a broad range of local and multi-jurisdictional matters, including merger control, cartels, antitrust investigations and litigation, and State aid and public procurement matters. Major cases range from advising on the merger clearances for Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth and the Yahoo/Microsoft joint venture, to high-profile cartel cases including the elevator and escalators investigation and related damages litigation, as well as abuse of dominance cases such as the Microsoft investigation and appeal.
Our leading practitioners include the former general counsels of both the US Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission, Bill Blumenthal and Michel Petite respectively, as well as the former Director of Mergers at the UK’s Office of Fair Trading, Alastair Mordaunt.
