Biography: Competition

Rob Kwinter is a partner in Blakes' competition, antitrust and foreign investment group. He has extensive experience in all areas of competition law, and regularly advises clients with respect to mergers, criminal and non-criminal matters and the misleading advertising provisions of the Competition Act.

Rob is a leading counsel in international cartel matters including related class actions. Rob has also acted as litigation counsel in a variety of cases under various provisions of the Competition Act, including mergers, conspiracy, bidrigging and misleading advertising. Rob has frequently appeared successfully before the Competition Tribunal, and various trial and appellate courts.

Rob has worked on hundreds of merger transactions, obtaining regulatory approval under the merger provisions of the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act. Rob has been involved in many complex merger transactions, including Suncor/Petro-Canada; Merck/Schering-Plough; Glaxo Wellcome/SmithKline Beecham; GE/Instrumentarium; Great West Life/Canada Life; West Fraser/Weldwood; and Whirlpool/Maytag.

Rob has developed a recognised expertise in the misleading advertising field and has acted as counsel in some of the leading comparative advertising cases in Canada, including Church & Dwight v Sifto and UPS v Purolator.

Rob regularly participates on various committees of the Canadian Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and has been an active contributor to the work of the International Competition Network as a non-governmental adviser. Rob is a member of the international cartel task force of the American Bar Association, antitrust section, and a vice-chair of the competition law and policy committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Rob is recognised as a leading practitioner in competition/antitrust law by Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, Law Business Research's The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers and Who's Who Legal: Canada, PLC Which Lawyer?, The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, and Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers. He is also listed as a leading practitioner in the areas of competition law and advertising and marketing law in The Best Lawyers in Canada.