Experience
Jonathan is a leading Competition lawyer who has been advising on the full range of EU/Competition issues for 30 years, half of which was spent living and working in the EU capital of Brussels.
He is a dual qualified UK and Irish solicitor and now largely shares his time between the UK and Ireland. Jonathan advises on all aspects of EU and UK/Irish Competition & International Trade law including restrictive agreements, abuse of dominant position, merger control, trade defence instruments such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, WTO law, customs and trade agreements such as the EU/UK Trade & Cooperation Agreement.
Jonathan is however most particularly well-known for advising on all forms of State aid and now UK Subsidy Control, grant funding and other forms of State-sponsored financial assistance, and public procurement. Jonathan regularly advises a wide range of central government, regional and local authorities, in addition to multi-nationals through to research institutions, real estate developers and many others. In so doing Jonathan advises on some of the most nationally significant subsidy cases around the UK and beyond.
During the course of his work he deals with various regulators on a regular basis, such as DG COMP, DG REGIO, the (UK) Competition & Markets Authority and the (Irish) Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and has successfully pleaded before the General (European) Court in Luxembourg. Jonathan gave evidence to the House of Commons select committee on the development of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and since the Act entered into force has been involved in a significant volume of cases put before the Competition & Markets Authority since then. He also acted successfully for Durham Council in the first case before the Competition Appeal Tribunal under the 2022 Act.
Jonathan has led DWF’s Government & Public Sector group since 2013 and in so doing overseen the growth of the DWF practice to becoming a significant UK national player, including as a key supplier to UK Central Government via CCS RM6179 (and now RM6360) and key member of other key public sector frameworks including CCS RM6240 (Wider Public Services), NEPO, EM Law Share, Cornwall Council, North West Legal Consortium, Homes England, Scottish Government and Welsh Government.
Jonathan is also Managing Partner of the DWF Leeds office.
Jonathan has consistently been ranked as a Number 1 leading individual in legal directories for many years (including Legal 500 Hall of Fame). 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.