David Hartridge is a senior WTO counsellor in the Geneva office of White & Case LLP. He advises clients on the progress and implications of the new round of negotiations launched at Doha; implementation and compliance with the WTO agreements; WTO accession negotiations; WTO dispute settlement proceedings; and government relations.

Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Hartridge served for eight years as director of the WTO's Trade in Services Division. In that position Mr. Hartridge carried principal responsibility in the WTO Secretariat for the completion and implementation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the governing agreement for market access issues in industries such as financial services and telecommunications. Mr. Hartridge also played a major role in the negotiation of the Reference Paper disciplines on competition and regulation in telecommunications markets. He had previously been director of the Office for Multilateral Trade Negotiations at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was responsible for the launch of the Uruguay Round and subsequently for the negotiation of the WTO Agreements on Trade and Intellectual Property Rights, Trade and Investment and Government Procurement. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hartridge was Chef de Cabinet of the director-general of GATT, and also served as acting director-general of the WTO from May to September of 1999.