Kate M. Watkins is an associate in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and is a member of the firm’s Antitrust & Competition group. She counsels and represents clients in a wide range of transactional antitrust matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, competitor collaborations, and issues related to compliance with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Kate also represents corporate clients in criminal antitrust investigations, most recently related to hiring practices and generic pharmaceuticals. Her experience spans multiple industries, including aerospace, technology, transportation, health care, and consumer products.
Kate’s recent experience includes:
- Counseling clients on potential antitrust liability associated with horizontal, vertical, and unilateral conduct while helping achieve business goals.
- Counseling clients on compliance with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
- Providing a variety of antitrust compliance trainings to clients and trade associations across industries.
- Representing a multinational corporation in a grand jury investigation into hiring practices (no-poach/non-solicitation).
- Representing a major health care provider in a grand jury investigation alleging no-poaching agreements.
- Representing United Technologies in connection with its pending merger with The Raytheon Company and its $30 billion acquisition of Rockwell Collins.
- Representing Gwinnett Health System in its merger with Northside Hospital.
- Representing AT&T in its proposed merger with Time Warner.
- Providing a major online retailer with counseling and advocacy assistance associated with an FTC rulemaking.
- Representing Humana Inc. in its proposed merger with Aetna Inc.
- Counseling retail clients on necessary advertising disclosures and registrations for compliance with various state laws.
Kate maintains an active and varied pro bono practice, including representing Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitioners, drafting comments on behalf of women’s rights organizations opposing regulatory restrictions of contraceptive coverage, and serving as a guardian ad litem or counsel in numerous child custody matters.
Kate is also an active member of the ABA Antitrust Section where she is serving as a 2020 Young Lawyer Representative.
Kate earned her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School in 2016, where she served as executive articles editor for the American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal. During law school, Kate interned at the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection. She was also recognized as a 2016 Outstanding Law Student by the National Association of Women Lawyers for her work in furthering the advancement of women in society and promoting the concerns of women in the legal profession. She received her B.A. with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012.
Affiliations
Admitted to practice: District of Columbia, Texas (inactive)
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Antitrust Section
- Young Lawyers Division
- National Association of Women Lawyers
Publications
Client Alerts & Newsletters
-
"Managing Expectations: FTC Cautions Against Reliance on the Failing Firm Defense,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(May 29, 2020).
Contacts: Shawn R. Johnson, Alexis Victoria DeBernardis, Kate M. Watkins
-
"FTC Announces Resumption of Early Termination for HSR Filings,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(March 30, 2020).
Contacts: Shawn R. Johnson, Britton D. Davis, Connor Ahearn, Kate M. Watkins
-
"FTC Announces New HSR and Section 8 Thresholds,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(January 28, 2020).
Contacts: Shawn R. Johnson, Britton D. Davis, Kate M. Watkins, Connor Ahearn
-
"DOJ Secures Another Extradition on Antitrust Charges,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(January 17, 2020).
Contacts: Daniel L. Zelenko, Juan A. Arteaga, Megan L. Wolf, Kate M. Watkins
-
"DOJ Puts Antitrust Compliance Programs in the Spotlight,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(July 16, 2019).
Contacts: Daniel L. Zelenko, Megan L. Wolf, Olivier N. Antoine, Thomas De Meese, Kate M. Watkins
-
"District Court Decision in FTC v. Qualcomm Spawns Controversy: Four Issues to Watch on Appeal,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(June 3, 2019).
Contacts: Lisa Kimmel, Ph.D., Mark A. Klapow, Wm. Randolph Smith, Jeane A. Thomas, CIPP/E, Akhil Sheth, Kate M. Watkins
-
"FTC Announces New HSR and Section 8 Thresholds,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(February 19, 2019).
Contacts: Shawn R. Johnson, Britton D. Davis, Kate M. Watkins, Connor Ahearn
-
"The Antitrust Division Takes the New Madison Approach to Court in u-blox v. InterDigital,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(February 14, 2019).
Contacts: Lisa Kimmel, Ph.D., Juan A. Arteaga, Mark A. Klapow, Kate M. Watkins
-
"FTC Announces New HSR and Section 8 Thresholds,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(January 26, 2018).
Contacts: Shawn R. Johnson, Britton D. Davis, Kate M. Watkins
-
"Recent Happenings in Advertising & Product Risk Management – December 2017,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(December 20, 2017).
Contacts: Christopher A. Cole, Cheryl A. Falvey, John Fuson, David Ervin, Lauren Aronson, Carolyn W. Wagner, Matthew Cohen, Rebecca Baden Chaney, Chalana N. Damron, Robbie Rogart, Rukiya Mohamed, Kate M. Watkins
-
"Antitrust, Standard Development, and Essential Patent Licensing: The Antitrust Division Returns to Sound Enforcement Principles,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(November 22, 2017).
Contacts: Lisa Kimmel, Ph.D., Juan A. Arteaga, Mark A. Klapow, Kate M. Watkins
-
"FTC Issues Report Evaluating Merger Remedies,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(February 6, 2017).
Contacts: Jeane A. Thomas, CIPP/E, Angel Prado, Kate M. Watkins
-
"DOJ/FTC Issue Final Revised Antitrust-Intellectual Property Licensing Guidelines,"
Antitrust Law Alert
(January 17, 2017).
Contacts: Lisa Kimmel, Ph.D., Andrew I. Gavil, Mark A. Klapow, Robert B. McNary, Kate M. Watkins
Firm News & Announcements