Antitrust in DC/NY Forum

[jrthor10]

Would love to find someone who can speak to antitrust practices at various firms in these markets.

Thanks

[bdubs]

You can PM me. Will also try to write a post later

[Anonymous User]

WSGR (DC) has a sizable team for antitrust. Most new hires had some government-related experience.

[bdubs]

This is a really broad generalization, but I think many firms are moving toward having their antitrust practice centered in DC or at least having a strong DC presence in addition to NY/elsewhere. Even though antitrust is a component of a deal, the relationships with major agencies are important. Being local seems to help both with credibility and being able to attract ex-government lawyers. The NY firms tend to see antitrust more as a component or specialty of another practice (M&A, litigation, etc.).

Top firms can be found in Chambers & Partners (Antitrust- Nationwide) and Global Competition Review (GCR 100). Chambers is more focused on US reputation which seems to be driven by M&A and litigation, while GCR is more oriented toward government investigations and some M&A. There is a lot of overlap between them though.

Work in antitrust seems to be moving up the food chain. The stakes in a lot of big antitrust matters are large and clients are increasingly looking to hire someone who has a solid reputation in the area rather than letting their standard outside counsel's "antitrust guy" handle it. Not surprisingly a lot of the top practices are in the V10/20.