Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. People
  3. David C. Smith
David C. Smith
David C. Smith
Counsel — Antitrust
E: davidsmith@velaw.com T: +1.202.639.6763
VCard BIO PDF
Counsel — Antitrust

David C. Smith

David C. Smith
Washington
T: +1.202.639.6763
F: +1.202.318.0588

2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 500 West
Washington, DC 20037

E: davidsmith@velaw.com
VCard BIO PDF
David C. Smith

David’s principal practice area is antitrust, with experience across multiple areas of antitrust law. His experience includes extensive work on the review of mergers by antitrust enforcement agencies, both in the United States and worldwide.  He also has assisted at all stages of civil litigation from complaint to trial, including motions to dismiss, summary judgment, and class certification, as well as in appellate matters, civil and criminal investigations, and antitrust counseling. His experience covers many sectors of the economy, with a particular focus in the energy, transportation, and technology sectors. David also has experience regarding the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property. The following is a list of representative matters on which David has worked.

Experience Highlights

  • Represented a major fuels wholesaler and retailer in merger investigation and Second Request

  • Coordinated worldwide merger control filings in multiple industries, including retail fuels, oil terminals, shipping, technology products, and entertainment (including substantive interactions with antitrust authorities in numerous jurisdictions)

  • Successfully represented an airline in appellate proceedings in In re Delta/AirTran Baggage Fee Antitrust Litigation, an MDL class action alleging price-fixing of checked baggage fees

  • Assisting in the representation of an airline in In re Domestic Airline Travel Antitrust Litigation, an MDL putative class action alleging that the major airlines conspired to restrict domestic capacity

  • Assisted in the representation of a large parts manufacturer in the Department of Justice’s automotive parts investigation and related civil litigation

  • Assisted in the representation of a technology products company in an antitrust/IP dispute 

  • Assisted in the representation at trial of a technology services provider in a conspiracy and monopolization case brought by a major customer

  • He spent six months on secondment to a leading global technology company in the Bay Area 

Credentials

  • University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 2010 (Order of the Coif, Articles Editor, Virginia Journal of International Law)
  • University of Virginia, B.A., Government & History with high distinction, 2007
  • Selected to the Washington DC Rising Stars list, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2015-2020
  • Legal 500 U.S., Antitrust: Cartel, 2019; Antitrust: Merger Control, 2019–2022
  • Member: American Bar Association
  • Virginia
  • District of Columbia
  • “Antitrust Agencies Finalize Updates to IP Licensing Guidelines,” V&E Antitrust Update E-communication, January 18, 2017 (co-author)
  • “Shifting Sands: Cost-and-Fee Allocation in International Investment Arbitration,” 51 Va. J. Int’l L. 749, 2011
  • “Sunk Ships Seal Lips: The 1989 Salvage Convention’s Absence From American Law,” ABA Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee Newsletter, Spring 2011

News & Insights

Deals & Cases
Vinson & Elkins Advises Talos Energy Inc. in the $1.1B Acquisition of EnVen Energy Corporation
September 22, 2022
Insight
Shifting Sands: DOJ Applies New Merger Enforcement Standards in Recent Lawsuit

V&E Antitrust Update

The V&E Report
September 20, 2022
Deals & Cases
Waste Management to Acquire Controlling Interest in Avangard Innovative's U.S. Business
September 13, 2022
Deals & Cases
Energy Transfer to Acquire Woodford Express, LLC for $485 Million
August 3, 2022