US GOVERNMENT ANTITRUST Washington, DC’s leading firms for government antitrust On the occasion of the 59th annual ABA Spring Meeting, Rachel Bull and Ron Knox visited Washington, DC to conduct GCR’s largest government antitrust survey N 10 March, the public relations team at Howrey LLP sent out a five-paragraph press release, delivering the news that many in the legal world had expected for weeks. OBob Ruyak, the firm’s chairman, did not mince his words. “The firm had experienced disappointing financial performance over the past two years and subsequently several partners had resigned,” Ruyak said. “This resulted in the conclusion that an orderly wind-down of the firm’s activities over time was the only practical alternative.” And with those two sentences, the largest antitrust group in the world was no more. Howrey’s demise meant sweeping changes throughout the global antitrust bar – none more significant than those in Washington, DC. The loss of Howrey meant the gain of top- flight talent and clients for other local practices. In some cases those practices had antitrust presences in markets outside the state but had the room – and lack of conflicts – to take on big teams from the former powerhouse. Those haven’t been the only changes since GCR last surveyed the DC antitrust landscape. Leading antitrust groups have taken on new talent as former enforcers moved into private practice; firms with major presences in Europe have pushed into the district’s upper echelon; and a renewed taste for blockbuster deals in a healing economy has given the best teams a constant flow of work. 14 GLOBAL COMPETITION REVIEW US GOVERNMENT ANTITRUST Elite former FTC bureau of competition director David Wales, whom they The antitrust team at Arnold & Porter LLP remains a highly consider a future star. Partner John Majoras, who splits his time respected and prominent player on the Washington, DC bar, with between Washington, DC and the firm’s office in Cincinnati, says five of its partners in the 2011Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers that the team has “ongoing plans to grow.” and Economists. Partner Deborah Feinstein was voted “Lawyer of Majoras says that the firm bills a good portion of its hours by the Year” by her peers in the 2011 GCR Awards. attracting the antitrust components of deals being handled by other It may also have something to do with the firm’s presence on firms’ corporate divisions. Regardless of where the Jones Day team’s the most high-profile deals of the past 12 months. These include work comes from, its docket is extensive and impressive. Over the AT&T/T-Mobile, Comcast/NBC, Intel/Mcafee and Air Products past year, the team has been involved in some of the largest and & Chemicals/Airgas. The firm has around 15 civil litigations on its longest-running antitrust class actions and litigations in the country, books: including in the cathode ray tubes, municipal derivatives and including cases that were either appealed to, or heard by, the Supreme cement industries. It is also active in a range of non-cartel government Court. investigations, including for Visa in the DoJ’s interchange case and Meanwhile, the team at Latham & Watkins LLP has done for agricultural company Monsanto. Former FTC competition nothing but impress over the past year or so. While the firm’s DC bureau director William Baer remains head of the practice, which antitrust practice is relatively lean at the top – seven partners and is one of the largest in this survey with 30 partners, 10 consultants three counsel take the lead – it has punched above its weight and led and 43 associates. Arguably, no antitrust team in Washington, DC, has impressed as much as the team from Howrey’s demise meant sweeping Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP over the past two years. Always at or near the top of changes throughout the global the table, Cleary’s competition says the practice rivals any in the district. “You always see Cleary antitrust bar – none more significant and they’re always good,” a lawyer at a rival firm says. than those in Washington, DC The seven-partner DC practice handles a full range of antitrust issues, from courtroom work to mergers and the way or partnered with its antitrust shops in New York and San investigations before the federal US agencies. The team also works Francisco to handle top-tier matters. Who’s Who nominees Margaret seamlessly with the firm’s other top-tier competition practices in M Zwisler, Michael G Egge and senior litigator Abbott “Tad” B Europe and elsewhere. “It’s about as integrated as you can possibly Lipsky Jr feature prominently. get, on both a personal and professional level,” says partner Michael Over the past year, the team has been involved in two of the five Lazerwitz. US multi-district antitrust class actions, multiple complex merger The DC team features four International Who’s Who of filings and several cartel cases. But no case was more representative Competition nominees, all of whom work on the most high profile of the team’s year than its defence of pharmaceutical company deals in the country. Among them, the team acts for T-Mobile in Lundbeck in the FTC’s challenge of its completed purchase of a its proposed merger with AT&T, as well as Google in its myriad smaller rival. The court last year found that the FTC failed to define antitrust matters. a market and dismissed the case after a full trial on the merits – one The team at Hogan Lovells seem on fine and unified form post- of the few agency merger challenges to progress to that point. merger. Partner Janet L McDavid, who heads the practice, says one Head of the antitrust practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, of the firm’s strengths is coordinating global deals very quickly – such Richard Parker, says merger work has made a significant comeback as on Unilver’s decision to buy Alberto Culver. at the firm. Parker is advising Western Digital in its US$4.3 billion bid The Washington, DC group gained another partner recently to acquire Hitachi’s hard disk drive business and is counsel to Quest after Logan Breed was promoted last month. And Robert Robertson Diagnostics in several laboratory acquisitions. San Francisco-based joined the Washington, DC office from the FTC in September. partner Thomas Brown is leading the work for eBay on its purchase McDavid, Lynda Marshall and Joseph Krauss are all entrants in the of GSI Commerce. The firm is also active on several multi-district Who’s Who. litigations, including for Samsung in two separate proceedings and The team is present on a host of high-profile deals, including for in the fertiliser, air cargo and oil filter markets. ITA Software in its takeover by Google, which the DoJ cleared earlier Parker seems unaffected by the recent loss of former FTC chairman this month with remedies. It also advised Admob on its acquisition Timothy Muris and three other antitrust lawyers to Kirkland & Ellis by Google, and represented Verizon on its bid for cloud computing LLP. He says the team is scaling up and looking to make two lateral company Terremark. hires to add to the existing seven partners, seven counsel and five The team represented LabCorp in its successful defence of FTC associates. Antitrust litigator Thomas McCoy recently rejoined the litigation challenging its purchase of Westcliff Medical Laboratories, firm as a partner from Advanced Micro Devices. and is also advising on LabCorp’s purchase of Genzyme’s genetics According to partner Thomas Mueller, the antitrust team at testing business. Hogan Lovells is also advising Home City Ice in the Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Washington, DC class action multi-district litigation that has been consolidated in the had its most successful year to date in 2010 for case successes, Eastern District of Michigan. productivity and new clients – particularly in the technology and The roster of lawyers at the Washington, DC antitrust practice of pharmaceutical sectors. Standout matters include the Cisco/Tandberg Jones Day is among the most well-regarded and decorated in the bar. tie up that was cleared with remedies last March, and the FTC’s Partners Kathryn M Fenton, J Bruce McDonald, Phillip A Proger and Intel litigation, for which the firm acted as co-counsel with Gibson Joe Sims are all Who’s Who nominees, and the team recently added Dunn. The group also acts for Cephalon in what partner Eric Mahr www.globalcompetitionreview.com 15 US GOVERNMENT ANTITRUST says is the most active pay-for-delay case in the US, and is advising either merge, or form joint ventures that could have antitrust issues. Danaher on its US$6.8 billion buyout of Beckman Coulter. On the Although he’s often been recused, Barnett says the firm is active on cartel front, the practice advises clients in the air cargo, LCD, auto the cartel defence cases as well – and he’s been out of the government supplies, freight forwarding and private equity litigations. long enough to begin advising on newer investigations, including The group has eight partners. Among them, Mueller, James Lowe those in the chemicals and auto parts industries. and William J Kolasky all feature in the Who’s Who of Competition. Partners Randolph Smith, Robert Lipstein and Christopher Ondeck lead Crowell & Moring LLP’s 62-strong antitrust group in Highly Recommended Washington, DC. Lipstein says the team continues to hunt for yet Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP partner and Who’s Who nominee more talent and that it’s among the firm’s “strategic imperatives” to John DeQ Briggs was one of the first, and most senior, defections grow the group.