John Cook

Of Counsel

John Cook is Of Counsel in O’Melveny’s Brussels and London offices and a member of the Antitrust/Competition Practice.  John focuses on antitrust, EC law, aviation and utilities regulation and has worked on a number of high profile UK and EC cases, covering the spectrum of merger, cartel and industry inquiries.

Illustrative Professional Experience

• EC merger control
  • Delta Air Lines/Northwest Airlines — for Northwest
  • TUI/First Choice Holidays — for TUI, winning Legal Business’ 2007 “Competition Team of the Year” award
  • UK public bids for BAA plc and Associated British Ports — for GICSI
  • Airtours/First Choice — for the main complainant
• UK merger control
  • the Stena/P&O Cross Channel ferry merger
  • Group 4/Wackenhut — clearance of 3 to 2 merger after in-depth inquiry
  • the first in-depth merger inquiry under the UK Enterprise Act 2002
• appeals to the European Courts in merger and Article 81/82 cases
• Cement cartel case — the largest EU cartel inquiry
• European Commission (on the “open skies” initiative)
• the UK Office of Rail Regulation (competition law, rail regulation and judicial review)
• New Zealand government (renegotiation of the EU dairy products regime)

Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he also taught part-time for several years after graduating, John spent four years as a legal adviser at the UK Office of Fair Trading and a similar period at the UK Trade and Industry Department, where his work covered a wide range of international trade and EU issues and the establishment of the regulatory regime for telecoms and the privatization of parts of the Post Office. He joined Norton Rose in 1988 to establish its competition and EU practice and was Head of its Competition and EU group for almost a decade. Latterly he was managing partner of its Brussels office. With over 30 years experience as an EU and UK competition lawyer, John Cook has advised governments, public bodies, international corporations and UK firms on competition and regulatory matters. John’s work has included high level business strategy (including complex and hostile M&A activity), cartels, compliance, complaints and cases before the European Courts. He is also experienced in aviation and utilities regulation, state aids and public law/judicial review.

John Cook is a recognized leader in the field of EU and UK competition law and consistently highly ranked in many specialized publications including Chambers Europe, Chambers Global, Euromoney’s Guide to the World's Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers, European Legal Experts, Global Competition Review, PLC Which Lawyer? and International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers. He is the co-author of EC Merger Control, published by Thomson/Sweet & Maxwell, now in its 4th edition, which provides a comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the EC merger control regime.

Professional Activities

Member, Law Society of England & Wales; American Bar Association; International Bar Association
Co-Author, EC Merger Control, Thomson/Sweet & Maxwell, Fourth Edition (December 2005)