David I Gelfand

Dave Gelfand is one of the country’s leading antitrust lawyers; his practice spans merger review, civil litigation, and criminal investigations with a particular expertise in merger litigation. He has secured significant victories for his clients against all U.S. antitrust enforcers - State Attorneys General, the FTC, and the DOJ. These positive outcomes include defeating the U.S. DOJ’s challenge to Change Healthcare’s $13.8 billion acquisition by UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit; securing the dismissal of the U.S. FTC’s attempt to force Altria Group to sell its minority stake in Juul Labs Inc.; defending T-Mobile in its $146 billion merger with Sprint, defeating a challenge by a number of State Attorneys General; successfully defending Assa Abloy in litigation brought by the DOJ seeking to block its $4.3 billion acquisition of Spectrum Brands’ Hardware and Home Improvement division; and representing JetBlue Airways in the ongoing federal lawsuit and upcoming trial brought by the U.S. DOJ and several state attorneys general challenging its $3.8 billion merger with Spirit Airlines.

He joined Cleary in 1991 and has concentrated on antitrust work for the past 30 years. He became a partner of the firm in 1997 and was resident in our Brussels office from 2001 to 2004. From 2013 to 2016, Dave was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Litigation in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was involved in several major matters including the investigation and challenges to the USAir/AA, Comcast/TWC, Halliburton/Baker Hughes, and General Electric/Electrolux mergers.

Dave is also a professor of practice and the Sims Chair in Competition Law and Regulation at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

J.D., summa cum laude, Georgetown University Law Center (1987); B.S., magna cum laude, University of Pennsylvania (1981).

Member, Maryland and District of Columbia Bars.