Antitrust and Competition

Wilson Sonsini's antitrust attorneys are uniquely positioned to assist clients with a wide range of issues, from day-to-day counseling and compliance to crucial bet-the-company matters. Our accomplished team is consistently recognized among the leading antitrust practices worldwide by such sources as Global Competition Review, Chambers, and Law360. GCR hailed the group as "perhaps the best antitrust and competition practice for high-tech matters in the world," while Chambers USA characterized them as "a dominant firm for matters involving the hi-tech sphere, acting for many of the most prominent technology firms," with a "deep and diverse bench of outstanding practitioners."

Based in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Brussels, our highly regarded antitrust attorneys advise clients with respect to mergers and acquisitions, criminal and civil investigations by government agencies, antitrust litigation, and issues involving intellectual property, consumer protection, and privacy. We advise clients on a full range of issues, including pricing, distribution, vertical restrictions, standard-setting activities, joint ventures, and patent pooling. Working with Fortune 100 global enterprises as well as venture-backed start-up companies, our attorneys have expertise in virtually every significant industry sector, including technology, media, healthcare, services, transportation, and manufacturing.

Wilson Sonsini's attorneys have held senior positions at U.S. federal agencies, including:

• FTC Acting Chair and Commissioner
• FTC Director of the Bureau of Competition
• Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement of the DOJ Antitrust Division
• Assistant Director of the FTC's Mergers IV Division
• Assistant Chief of the New York field office of the DOJ Antitrust Division
• Attorney Advisor to the FTC Chairperson
• Chief of Staff in the DOJ Antitrust Division

In addition, Jonathan Jacobson served as a congressionally appointed commissioner to the 12-member Antitrust Modernization Commission, which was responsible for reviewing and recommending potential changes to the nation's antitrust laws. All of our senior lawyers write and speak extensively on antitrust and competition topics, and many of our attorneys hold leadership positions in national and local antitrust bar organizations.

Litigation

Wilson Sonsini’s antitrust litigation attorneys litigate antitrust issues on behalf of the government and as trial counsel for company plaintiffs and defendants, including a significant docket of federal class action and “follow-on” cases after government enforcement. The team is routinely hired to represent companies such as Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Google, Hitachi Chemical, Live Nation, Mylan, Netflix, Symantec, and Walgreens in their most important antitrust litigation matters.

Mergers

The merger clearance attorneys in Wilson Sonsini's antitrust and competition practice have consistently been involved in complex deals involving market-leading companies in many of the most competitive sectors, including the technology, life sciences, media, energy, financial services,  transportation, and consumer product industries. Because of our team's experience representing buyers, sellers, and third-parties in proposed mergers before the FTC, the DOJ, and the European Commission, the firm has been consistently top-ranked in annual surveys, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Civil Investigations and Criminal Investigations

Wilson Sonsini’s antitrust attorneys have represented clients in connection with the most important civil non-merger investigations by the DOJ in recent years. The team has a long history of representing companies in connection with precedent-setting investigations such as United States v. VISA, United States v. Microsoft, FTC v. VISX, in addition to representing Google throughout the world on major investigations.

We have represented clients in connection with some of the most important criminal investigations brought by the Department of Justice and across jurisdictions. Combined, the team has more than 60 years experience as prosecutors and more than 35 years experience as defense counsel. 

While Wilson Sonsini's antitrust team is truly global in scope, it operates as a singular unit that tackles the largest, most complex, and most high-profile antitrust matters throughout the world—and does so with an unmatched record of success.