Antitrust and Competition

Comprehensive, integrated services

A destination practice with over 80 dedicated antitrust practitioners, we have the skill and scale to handle matters of any size, anywhere. We assist clients with the full complement of antitrust and competition issues a business can face, including:

• Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
• Civil litigation and government investigations
• Criminal grand jury investigations and trials
• Pursuit of damages in recovery actions
• Counseling, audits and compliance training

Impossible deals, demanding cases, high-stakes investigations

The biggest names in global business choose our antitrust and competition practice for difficult, high-risk disputes, transactions, and investigations. Our deep bench of trial lawyers can try cases to verdict or arbitrate throughout the world, our transactional team has handled some of the largest and most complex mergers and acquisitions in recent history, and our global team of antitrust practitioners are trusted partners when businesses are the target of government investigations. Recent matters include:

• Won global, multijurisdictional clearance for United Technologies Corporation’s $135 billion merger with The Raytheon Company, the largest aerospace transaction in history and The Deal’s 2020 “Deal of the Year”
• Successfully represented AT&T in its landmark $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, at the time the largest telecommunications transaction in history, serving as antitrust counsel throughout the merger investigation and as key members of the trial team, which represented the first litigated challenge to a vertical merger in the U.S. in over 40 years
• Defended Marriott International Inc. at trial in an antitrust lawsuit against Marriott and other major hotel companies alleging the companies entered into an agreement not to bid on each other’s branded keywords in paid search advertising
• Persuaded the DOJ to close its investigation into whether our clients conspired with their competitors to fix prices without bringing any criminal charges against them and represented both companies in private class actions filed by direct and indirect purchasers
• Successfully represented 45 of the largest merchants in the nation in opt-out antitrust litigation against Visa and Mastercard, settling the matter on favorable terms for our clients

Global reach

Our clients’ global business interests frequently demand multi-jurisdictional antitrust and competition strategies, and we regularly assist them on six continents. By maintaining close relationships with the top antitrust firms and practitioners around the world, we can select and coordinate the best possible counsel to help solve clients’ unique cross-jurisdictional problems as they arise. In recent years we’ve assisted clients in mergers, acquisitions, investigations, litigation and arbitration in over 80 jurisdictions.

Government insight

When you need to know which way the regulatory winds are blowing, or get someone on the phone about a case or deal, there is no substitute for inside experience and relationships. Our team members have held key positions at the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission and bring up-to-the minute knowledge of regulatory approaches and priorities.

Client partnerships

We regularly counsel high-profile clients on the full complement of antitrust issues, serving as a trusted adviser with a deep understanding of their business drivers and the industries in which they compete. Many of our relationships have lasted for decades, solving new problems as business models and markets evolve and grow. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, as well as industry disrupters in a wide range of industries from food to technology.

We promise top value to our clients, and we deliver — through secondments, pricing and payment options, staffing efficiencies, project management and other creative means, and through just, plain winning. If clients are facing financial headwinds, they know we will work with them — because to us, long-term relationships are more important than short-term gains.

Collaborative across the board

Our team earns high marks for working in close partnership with clients, with colleagues across the firm’s practice areas, and with co-counsel on deals and disputes. Our collaborative approach ensures that all parties perform efficiently, smoothly and in the client’s best interest.