Shai Bakal

Shai Bakal heads the firm's Antitrust/Competition group. Shai's practice covers all areas of antitrust law and regulation. He regularly advises and represents leading corporations in Israel and abroad with respect to complicated antitrust matters, including complex mergers, joint ventures, restrictive trade practices and abuse of dominant position proceedings. He is well acquainted with the different sectors of the Israeli economy, particularly the food, energy, retail, and banking sectors. Shai has created and implemented antitrust compliance programs for large Israeli companies and multinational corporations. Shai advises leading suppliers and retailers in Israel with respect to the recently enacted food sector law as well as leading conglomerates regarding the new anti-concentration law. Shai successfully represents clients in complex antitrust litigation before the Antitrust Tribunal and in civil litigation, including class actions and appeals before the Supreme Court. In addition, Shai represented clients before various Israeli regulators, as well as in administrative petitions to the Israeli Supreme Court. Prior to joining the firm, Shai practiced law in the legal department of the IAA (2002-2007), where he was in charge, among others, of the food sector, retailing, and intellectual property. He was later appointed as the head of the IAA's mergers team, where he participated in the ICN's subgroup for merger investigative techniques. During his term at the IAA, Shai drafted several key policy documents, including the 'Antitrust Commissioner's Premerger Filing Guidelines' and the 'Antitrust Commissioner's Position on Commercial Arrangements among Suppliers and Retail Chains'. Shai is also a lecturer at Tel Aviv University in the area of antitrust law, and particularly the interface between IP, innovation, and antitrust.