Jonathan Branton
Partner, Head of EU/Competition,
DWF LLP
Jonathan is a dual qualified UK and Irish solicitor and heads the EU/Competition team at DWF and the business-wide Government & Public Sector group. Jonathan advises on the full range of Competition Law and international trade areas and is especially involved in advising a wide range of private beneficiaries and different levels of central and local government in State aid/Subsidy Control, grant funding and public procurement. In so doing, Jonathan advises on some of the most nationally significant State aid and Subsidy Control cases around the UK and beyond.
In addition to the above Jonathan also advises on merger control, anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices, abuse of dominance, and international trade defence matters such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases, customs and WTO issues. Jonathan has also advised extensively on Brexit including the new EU/UK Trade & Cooperation Agreement, and connected matters such as rules of origin.
Jonathan has regularly appeared before national and international regulators such as the Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission, and has successfully pleaded before the European Court in Luxembourg. Jonathan spent nearly 15 years living and working in Brussels and has otherwise practised across the UK and Ireland.
Jonathan has consistently been ranked as a Number 1 leading individual. Comments from clients (Legal 500) include: Jonathan Branton is an "expert Competition lawyer". DWF's ‘top-tier practice’ is led by ‘star performer’ Jonathan Branton, who is ‘one of the foremost experts nationally for state aid advice. In 2021, Jonathan gave evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on the development of the Subsidy Control Bill.