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Morrison Foerster Recognized as a Leading Antitrust Practice by Who’s Who Legal

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Seven Morrison Foerster lawyers from the global Antitrust Group have been recognized in the Who’s Who Legal – Competition 2024...

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Seven Morrison Foerster lawyers from the global Antitrust Group have been recognized in the Who’s Who Legal – Competition 2024 guide. Who’s Who Legal – Competition research, conducted with its sister publication Global Competition Review, is based solely on feedback and recommendations from leading private practitioners in the antitrust arena as well as from the firm’s clients.The MoFo lawyers who have been recognized include:<ul><li>Jeff Jaeckel (Vice Chair, Washington, D.C.)</li><li>Alexander Okuliar (Partner and Co-Chair, Global Antitrust Group, Washington, D.C.)</li><li>Andreas Grünwald (Berlin Managing Partner, Berlin and Brussels)</li><li>Michael B. Miller (Partner, New York)</li><li>Bonnie Lau (Partner, San Francisco)</li><li>Marie-Claire Strawbridge (Partner, London)</li><li>Penelope A. Preovolos (Senior Counsel, San Francisco)</li></ul>MoFo’s Antitrust lawyers are recognized leaders in the courtroom, the boardroom, and the halls of government. They are trial lawyers who have a knack for resolving complex antitrust cases through dispositive motions but are capable of taking any case to trial. They are strategic counselors who partner with our clients to develop business strategies to enhance their competitiveness. They are agency experts who draw on a deep well of experience, including service as high-level officials, to obtain successful results. They regularly play a leading role in groundbreaking antitrust matters and are exceptionally strong in representing the world’s leading companies in complex and high-profile multinational cartel and competition investigations, follow-on cartel class actions, civil and administrative investigations, antitrust clearance for mergers and acquisitions, civil litigation for market dominance claims, compliance matters, and more. With leading lawyers in major business centers in the United States, Europe, and Asia, MoFo’s Antitrust team provides these services seamlessly to clients doing business worldwide.For more details, please visit Who’s Who Legal’s <a href="https://www.lexology.com/wwl/search/?w=2895&f=3139D82BFCC179837FEA19BC8591CB2B3908B78A&es=1744954&page=1" target="_blank">website</a>.

Morrison Foerster Recognized as a Leading Antitrust Practice by Who’s Who Legal

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Jeff has notable experience representing public and private corporations in connection with their most significant and complicated antitrust litigation in federal and state courts. He regularly represents clients in all antitrust aspects of complicated transactional matters, including strategy and structuring of transactions to avoid antitrust risk and achieve strategic business objectives, and U.S. and multinational merger notification and review. Jeff also represents domestic and international companies in connection with government investigations of conduct, including civil investigations relating to monopolization or criminal investigations of alleged price-fixing. Jeff also assists clients in the protection of their intellectual property and counsels clients on the antitrust ramifications of commercial agreements to capitalize on the value of intellectual property.Jeff represents clients across a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices, semiconductors, software, Internet services, transportation, consumer products, telecommunications, and media and entertainment.In addition to his active practice, Jeff served as Morrison Foerster’s Vice Chair from, October 2022-December 2025. Jeff formerly served as co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Law Practice Group and as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors, and co-chair of the firm’s eDiscovery Task Force.Jeff serves as an associate editor of the Antitrust Magazine of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section. He graduated with honors and was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honor society in Economics. He was a writing staff member for the Wisconsin Environmental Law Journal, and was elected to Order of the Coif.

Jeff Jaeckel

Partner

Alex Okuliar is Chair of Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Law Practice Group. He served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Antitrust Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice during the first Trump Administration and, earlier in his career, as a trial attorney at DOJ and an advisor at the Federal Trade Commission. His practice includes merger reviews, litigation, and government investigations.“The ‘excellent’ Alex Okuliar has a broad practice taking in merger clearance, conduct investigations and antitrust litigation. He is particularly noted for his work on behalf of media and technology companies.” – Chambers USA, DC AntitrustAlex represents clients in lawsuits in federal and state courts around the United States. Described as “very smart” and “incredibly knowledgeable,” he has helped clients succeed in a wide range of cases, including class actions and private party disputes alleging price fixing, monopolization, group boycotts, market allocation, and tying. He and his team recently won Global Competition Review’s 2026 Litigation of the Year – Non-Cartel Prosecution for their representation of Avadel Pharmaceuticals in a monopolization case against another pharmaceutical company.He also regularly represents clients in merger and conduct investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, state Attorneys General, and foreign agencies, including the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority. He has guided clients through the complex global merger clearance process and litigated agency merger challenges through trial.Alex has notable federal agency senior leadership experience. He was appointed the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Enforcement in the DOJ Antitrust Division during the first Trump Administration and in that role oversaw more than 150 career staff, agency merger enforcement, and an industry-wide review of online platforms. He was also one of the principal architects and leaders of the agency’s landmark search monopolization case against Google (U.S. v. Google). Earlier in his career, Alex served as an attorney advisor to former FTC Commissioner Ohlhausen and a trial attorney in the Networks & Technology Enforcement Section of the Antitrust Division. Prior to his service as Deputy AAG, Alex was a partner at another international law firm.Alex is a thought leader and a frequent writer and speaker. He has edited or contributed to leading antitrust treatises and handbooks, including Antitrust Law Developments (7th edition), the Premerger Notification Practice Manual (3rd and 4th editions), and the Intellectual Property and Antitrust Handbook (2nd edition).Before law school, Alex co-founded and sold an online technology company.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><h5>Merger Review </h5>Alex has worked on nearly a thousand deals across many industry sectors over his roughly 25-year career. He has handled dozens of second requests and litigated merger cases through trial. Clients appreciate his in-depth knowledge of the federal agencies and the range and depth of his experience, particularly in technology markets. As one client noted in The Legal 500 U.S. Antitrust: Merger Control guide, “Alex Okuliar brings a deep knowledge of the law and economics of antitrust, and the ability to frame that knowledge within the unique circumstances of the digital economy.” Representative deals include:Agriculture, Food & Beverage<ul><li>AgroFresh Solutions in its acquisition of Pace International, a global provider of sustainable post-harvest solutions, equipment, and technical services, from Sumitomo Chemical.</li><li>Paine Schwartz Partners in multiple transactions in the agriculture technology and food space, including the recapitalization of Special New Fruit Licensing (SNFL), a table grape R&D company, as part of SNFL’s combination with IFG, and the investment by EQT into SNFL.</li><li>Sugar Foods Corporation in its sale to Pritzker Private Capital.</li></ul>Technology and Online Platforms<ul><li>Apigee, a cloud computing company, in its $625 million sale to Google.</li><li>AVG Technologies in its $1.3 billion sale to Avast Software, maker of antivirus and security software.</li><li>Cisco in multiple matters, including its $600 million acquisition of SD-WAN provider, Viptela.</li><li>Dupont Photomasks, a leading maker of semiconductor photomasks, in its roughly $650 million sale to Toppan Printing Co. Ltd., which closed after a Second Request investigation by the DOJ Antitrust Division.</li><li>Infineon Technologies AG in the sale of its HiRel DC-DC converter business to Micross Components, Inc.</li><li>Microsoft in many deals, including its $7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub, an AI-powered developer platform.</li><li>Molina Healthcare in the $231 million sale of its Medicaid management information systems business to DXC Technology.</li><li>Propel Media, an online advertising platform, in an FTC Second Request investigation and federal court and administration litigation related to its proposed acquisition by healthcare data company, IQVIA.</li><li>ShowingTime, a leading residential property technology company, in its $500 million sale to Zillow, which cleared successfully without conditions after a Second Request investigation by the FTC.</li><li>Uber in its multi-hundred-million-dollar investments in both Nuro, an American self-driving technology company and Lucid Group, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based technology company focused on creating the most advanced EVs in the world.</li><li>Unity Software Inc. in multiple transactions, including its all-stock $4.4 billion acquisition of app monetization platform and tool developer ironSource and the concurrent $1 billion PIPE investment by Silver Lake and Sequoia, and in response to the related $13.6 billion unsolicited acquisition proposal from AppLovin.</li></ul>Media, Entertainment & Telecommunications<ul><li>Hispanic Broadcasting Company in its $3 billion sale to Univision, which closed with a settlement after a year-long DOJ Second Request investigation.</li><li>Nexstar Media Group, one of the nation’s leading media companies and local television station owners, in achieving DOJ clearance of its $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna Inc., an owner and operator of local television stations, and in subsequent litigation against several State AGs and a private party challenging the consummated deal.</li><li>Planet Labs, a satellite imagery and analytics company, in the acquisition of satellite company, Terra Bella Technologies, from Google.</li></ul>Energy, Infrastructure, and Industrials<ul><li>Axalta Coating Systems in its acquisition of U-POL Holdings Limited, a manufacturer of automotive repair and refinish products, for £428 million in cash (approximately US$590 million).</li><li>Advised Axalta Coating Systems on antitrust aspects of its approximately $285 million acquisition of The CoverFlexx Group, a provider of economy coatings for automotive refinish and aftermarket applications, from Transtar Holding Company.</li><li>Enterprise Products Partners in its $13 billion acquisition of GulfTerra, which closed with limited divestitures after an FTC Second Request investigation.</li><li>Enterprise Products Company (EPCO) and Dan L. Duncan in the FTC investigation related to EPCO and Duncan’s roughly $1.1 billion acquisition from Duke Energy of Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company.</li><li>McGrath RentCorp. in its $400 million acquisition of Vesta Modular, a provider of temporary and permanent modular buildings, from Kinderhook Industries.</li><li>McGrath RentCorp. in its $200 million sale of Adler Tank Rentals to Ironclad Environmental Solutions.</li><li>McGrath RentCorp. in the FTC Second Request investigation of McGrath’s proposed $3.8 billion acquisition by WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings.</li><li>Meade Pipeline Co. in the $1.37 billion sale of its natural gas pipeline system to NextEra Energy Partners.</li><li>Nova Chemicals in its joint venture to build a $1.7 billion ethylene cracker and a polyethylene plant in Texas with Borealis and Total.</li><li>A private equity fund in the FTC investigation of the fund’s acquisition of a large North American plastics distribution business.</li><li>Schlumberger in the creation of Sensia, a joint venture with Rockwell Automation to develop and provide digital, integrated automation solutions for the oil and gas industry.</li><li>Superior Plus Corp., a leading North American distributor of propane, compressed natural gas, renewable energy and related products and services, in the $325 million sale of its construction products distribution business to Foundation Building Materials, a US distributor of building materials backed by Lone Star Funds.</li><li>Superior Plus Corp. in its $900 million acquisition of NGL Energy’s retail propane distribution business.</li></ul>Life Sciences<ul><li>Bayer AG in its $600 million acquisition of biotech company, BlueRock Therapeutics.</li><li>Bayer AG, through Leaps by Bayer, in its $215 investment in Century Therapeutics.</li><li>Kindred Biosciences in its approximately $450 million sale to Elanco Animal Health.</li><li>Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in its roughly $250 million acquisition of ADHD-drug developer, Neurovance.</li></ul>While serving at the DOJ and FTC, Alex investigated or oversaw the review of hundreds of transactions, including the $180 billion merger of United Technologies and Raytheon, NASDAQ’s proposed $11 billion acquisition of NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Boerse’s proposed $10 billion acquisition of NYSE Euronext, Waste Management’s $4.6 billion acquisition of Advanced Disposal Services, Liberty Latin America’s $1.95 billion purchase of AT&T Puerto Rico, Google’s $2 billion acquisition of Fitbit, Google’s $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, Reading Health System’s proposed acquisition of Surgical Institute of Reading, and Universal Health Service’s acquisition of Ascend Health Corporation, among many others.<h4>Antitrust Conduct Litigation</h4>Alex has represented clients in some of the most significant antitrust cases of the last twenty years, including class actions and private party disputes, and has represented both plaintiffs and defendants. As The Legal 500 U.S. Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions Defense guide noted, “Alex Okuliar litigates cutting-edge antitrust topics such as platform competition and data collection as well as media cases.” His thought leadership on class action issues has also been cited by courts (See In re GPU Antitrust Litigation, 253 F.R.D. 478, 492–3 (2008)). Representative cases include:Private Party Disputes (Plaintiff and Defense)<ul><li>Avadel, a leading biopharmaceutical company, in Jazz Pharmaceuticals v. Avadel CNS Pharmaceuticals (D. Del.), alleging monopolization and other unlawful conduct by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The case squarely addressed conduct long viewed by enforcers as anticompetitive, placing it at the forefront of pharmaceutical antitrust enforcement. The FTC also filed an <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/11/ftc-amicus-brief-challenges-abuse-fda-orange-book-listing-procedures-block-drug-competition" target="_blank">amicus brief</a> explaining to the Court the harm to competition from such listings. With trial imminent, achieved sweeping global settlement, delivering $90 million payment, perpetual worldwide license to key patents, and long-term certainty over Avadel’s commercial rights, unlocking Avadel’s strategic potential, culminating in a proposed $2.37 billion acquisition. The MoFo team recently won Global Competition Review’s 2026 – Litigation of the Year – Non-Cartel Prosecution.</li></ul><ul><li>Capital One in American Express v. Visa, et al. (S.D.N.Y.), where he defended the client against group boycott claims alleging that certain exclusive bylaws for the Visa and Mastercard credit card networks represented an agreement to boycott American Express. The case settled after years of litigation.</li><li>The Clorox Company and its Brita subsidiary in Zerowater v. Clorox, Brita, et al. (E.D. Pa), a lawsuit which involves allegations of patent ambush, monopolization and unfair competition. The case recently settled.</li><li>Icon, a real estate development company, in Icon v. Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, et al. (C.D. Cal.), a federal antitrust lawsuit alleging monopolization, sham petitioning, and other claims in labor markets. See the press coverage in <a href="https://www.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberglawnews/antitrust/XEJFH0U8000000?bna_news_filter=antitrust#jcite" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>. The case settled.</li><li>Provi, an e-commerce platform, in Tiz (d/b/a Provi) v. Southern Glazer’s and Republic National Distribution Co. (N.D. Ill.), an antitrust claim alleging monopolization, tying, and group boycott, among other conduct, by the nation’s largest alcohol distributors to eliminate new and innovative online marketplace competition from Provi. See coverage of the case by <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/29/alcohol-ordering-antitrust-suit-00021383" target="_blank">Politico</a>.</li><li>A national financial institution in its defense against state unfair competition claims in connection with a business transaction.</li><li>A leading online professional networking site in its defense against unfair competition claims based on allegations that the site had blocked a competing site from scraping its data to develop another service.</li><li>A leading medical imaging technology company in an antitrust counterclaim related to a patent infringement action.</li><li>An online media streaming company in an antitrust counterclaim against the major national television broadcasters related to a copyright infringement lawsuit.</li></ul>Class Action Defense<ul><li>Asiana Airlines in In re Korean Air Lines Co. Antitrust Litigation (C.D. Cal.), defending against a class action alleging price-fixing of passenger air fares. Client prevailed on motion to dismiss claims of indirect purchasers of passenger air fares, which was upheld in relevant part on appeal, and the remainder of the case settled. </li><li>Asiana Airlines in In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation (E.D.N.Y) to defend against a class action alleging price-fixing of cargo shipping fees. The case was ultimately settled.</li><li>Capital One in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Litigation (E.D.N.Y.), to defend against alleged price-fixing claims related to credit card interchange fees. This matter ultimately settled.</li><li>Honeywell in Wright v. Honeywell (Vt.), McKinnon v. Honeywell (Me.), Fagan v. Honeywell (Mass.), and Roos v. Honeywell (Cal.), to defend against class actions alleging monopolization of certain home thermostats. Certain cases were dismissed after briefing and oral argument and others were ultimately settled.</li></ul>Other (Government Litigation)<ul><li>The United States in United States v. Google (search) (D.D.C.), in its landmark monopolization case against a leading online search engine. He served as the senior Antitrust Division official overseeing the DOJ staff team to develop and prosecute the lawsuit.</li><li>The United States in United States and the State of Michigan v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (E.D. Mich.) regarding allegations that the defendant’s most favored nation provisions in its contracts with providers were an unlawful restraint of trade. The matter was dismissed after the State of Michigan enacted laws banning the use of most favored nation clauses by insurers, health maintenance organizations, and nonprofit health care corporations in contracts with providers.</li></ul><h4>Government Investigations & Policy Advocacy</h4>Alex also handles investigations, compliance counseling, and policy advocacy for governmental entities. As one client noted in The Legal 500 U.S. Antitrust: Cartels guide, “Alex Okuliar brings a calm and thoughtful approach to the matters he advises on. He has good judgment and delivers advice in a user-friendly format. He stays current on emerging issues in antitrust law and provides a helpful perspective on areas of risk and how to best address those areas.”Some of his matters include representing:<ul><li>An AI company in an FTC investigation of a technology platform.</li><li>A technology company in its defense against an FTC investigation into an alleged order violation.</li><li>A major chemical company as a leniency applicant in a DOJ criminal price-fixing investigation.</li><li>An airline in various DOJ criminal cargo and passenger airfare antitrust investigations.</li><li>A technology company in a DOJ investigation of an alleged no-poach agreement relating to employee hiring.</li><li>A major energy company as a third-party complainant and witness in an FTC investigation leading to litigation against the merging companies.</li><li>An energy company in an internal investigation of trading activity related to allegations of price fixing.</li><li>A major hospital system in a state AG price-fixing and market allocation investigation.</li><li>A ticket reseller in a state AG consumer protection investigation.</li><li>A major retailer as a third party in multiple state and federal investigations.</li><li>Clients advocating to government agencies on issues relating to technology platforms, mergers, and issues involving antitrust and intellectual property.</li></ul>

Alexander Okuliar

Chair of Global Antitrust Law Practice Group

Andreas Gruenwald is managing partner of Morrison Foerster’s German office in Berlin and a member of the firm’s worldwide board of directors. He heads the German Antitrust and Regulatory practice from the firm’s Berlin and Brussels offices.As a seasoned German and EU antitrust lawyer, Andreas represents his clients in merger control proceedings, provides advice with regard to allegations of market power abuse, and counsels on all antitrust aspects of businesses’ day-to-day operations, e.g., on matters such as information exchanges, vertical restraints, or antitrust compliance. Andreas also provides antitrust counsel in the digital economy, including on novel laws like the German UPSCAM law (Sec. 19a ARC) and the EU Digital Markets Act.Andreas’ regulatory practice focuses on the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sector. He advises on media regulation (e.g., advertising rules, youth protection, platform and intermediary regulation, media ownership control) and on telecoms laws. In addition, Andreas’ practice covers issues like content moderation (e.g., the Digital Services Act, Terrorist Content Online Regulation, and CSAM Regulation) and other technology topics (e.g., the EU Geo-Blocking Regulation and Data Act). He also supports his clients’ public policy initiatives, both around competition and other regulatory issues, by monitoring ongoing legislative developments and providing early-stage impact assessments and implementation counseling.Andreas studied law in Würzburg and Münster (Dr. iur.). He was a research fellow with Professor Dr. Bernd Holznagel at the Institute for Information, Telecommunications and Media Law (ITM) in Münster, a visiting scholar at the Communications Media Center of New York Law School (1998), and an international fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School (1999).Since 2005, Andreas has been teaching media and competition law at the University of Münster, where he was named an Honorary Professor in 2021.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><h5>Antitrust</h5><ul><li>Legal policy counsel to leading global technology companies on novel laws like the German UPSCAM law (Sec. 19a ARC), the 11th ARC amendment, and the EU Digital Markets Act</li><li>Merger control proceedings before the German Federal Cartel Office and the EU European Commission as well as coordination of global merger filings across a wide range of industries, including media, IT, semiconductors, automotive, pharma, professional services, and manufacturing, including “phase 2” cases like KDG/TeleColumbus, Liberty/KabelBW, KDG/Orion, and ish/iesy</li><li>Counsel in abuse of dominance cases, e.g., counsel to Sky Deutschland before the German Federal Cartel Office in the successful defense against abuse of dominance allegations in the German pay TV market</li><li>Antitrust counsel to technology and media companies on a wide range of operational issues</li></ul><h5>Regulatory</h5><ul><li>Counsel to international tech and media companies regarding compliance with the EU Digital Services Act and other tech-related EU and German regulations</li><li>Counsel to a leading worldwide provider of live-streaming services on a broad range of regulatory matters, e.g., content moderation, youth protection, and advertising regulations</li><li>Counsel to providers of cloud-based (OTT) communications solutions on compliance with telecommunications laws</li><li>Counsel to private pay and free TV providers on a wide range of media and competition issues</li><li>Counsel to ProSiebenSat.1 (P7S1) in the proceedings before the German Federal Administrative Court to successfully challenge the decision by the German media ownership commission (KEK) to block P7S1’s acquisition by Axel Springer</li></ul>

Prof. Dr. Andreas Grünwald ist Managing Partner des deutschen Büros in Berlin und Mitglied im weltweiten Board of Directors von Morrison Foerster. Er leitet die deutsche Kartellrechts- und Regulierungspraxis und arbeitet an unseren Standorten in Berlin und Brüssel.Im deutschen und europäischen Kartellrecht berät Andreas Grünwald in Fusionskontrollverfahren, zu Fragen des Missbrauchs von Marktmacht sowie zu allen kartellrechtlichen Themen des operativen Geschäfts, z. B. zu Fragen des Informationsaustauschs, des Vertriebskartellrechts oder der kartellrechtlichen Compliance. Einen Schwerpunkt bildet dabei die kartellrechtliche Beratung in der Digitalwirtschaft, insbesondere zu § 19a GWB und dem Digital Markets Act auf europäischer Ebene.Im Regulierungsrecht ist Andreas Grünwald vor allem in den Sektoren Technologie, Medien und Telekommunikation (TMT) tätig. Dazu zählt die Beratung im öffentlichen Medienrecht (u. a. Werberegulierung, Jugendschutz, Plattform- und Intermediärsregulierung, Konzentrationskontrolle) und im Telekommunikationsrecht. Hinzu kommen Fragestellungen aus den Bereichen Content Moderation (Digital Services Act, Terrorist Content Online Regulation, CSAM Verordnung) und anderen Digitalthemen (u. a. EU-Geo-Blocking-Verordnung, Data Act etc.) Außerdem unterstützt Andreas Grünwald seine Mandanten sowohl zu wettbewerbsrechtlichen als auch zu regulatorischen Themen umfassend bei ihren Public Policy-Initiativen, u. a. durch ein Monitoring entsprechender Gesetzesvorhaben und Folgenabschätzungen für die Geschäftsentwicklung in Deutschland und Europa.Andreas Grünwald hat in Würzburg und Münster (Dr. iur.) studiert, war wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter bei Prof. Dr. Bernd Holznagel am Institut für Informations-, Telekommunikations- und Medienrecht in Münster (ITM), Visiting Scholar am Communications Media Center der New York Law School (1998) und International Fellow des Information Society Project der Yale Law School (1999).Seit 2005 ist Andreas Grünwald als Lehrbeauftragter im Medien- und Kartellrecht an der Universität Münster tätig und wurde dort im Jahr 2021 zum Honorarprofessor ernannt.<h4>Referenzen</h4><h5>Kartellrecht</h5><ul><li>Rechtspolitische Beratung weltweit führender Technologieunternehmen zum „GWB-Digitalisierungsgesetz“, zur 11. GWB-Novelle und zum Digital Markets Act</li><li>Fusionskontrollverfahren vor dem Bundeskartellamt und der Europäischen Kommission sowie Koordination weltweiter Anmeldungen, u. a. in den Bereichen Medien, IT, Breitbandkabel, Halbleitertechnik, Automotive, Pharma, produzierendes Gewerbe und Dienstleistungen, darunter u. a. „Phase 2“ Verfahren in den Fällen Kabel Deutschland/Tele Columbus, Liberty/Kabel BW, Kabel Deutschland/Orion Cable sowie ish/iesy</li><li>Missbrauchsverfahren vor dem Bundeskartellamt, u. a. Vertretung von Sky Deutschland bei der erfolgreichen Abwendung von Vorwürfen des Missbrauchs einer marktbeherrschenden Stellung auf dem deutschen Pay-TV-Markt</li><li>Laufende kartellrechtliche Beratung von Medien- und Technologieunternehmen zu allen Fragen des operativen Geschäfts</li></ul><h5>Regulierung</h5><ul><li>Beratung international tätiger Technologie- und Medienunternehmen zur Compliance mit dem Digital Services Act und anderen aktuellen Regelungsvorhaben im Bereich der Digitalwirtschaft</li><li>Umfassende regulatorische Beratung eines führenden Anbieters von Live-Streaming-Diensten, u. a. zu Fragen zur Content Moderation, zum Jugendschutz und zur Werberegulierung</li><li>Telekommunikationsrechtliche Beratung von Anbietern cloudbasierter (OTT) Kommunikationslösungen</li><li>Beratung von privaten Pay- und Free-TV-Veranstaltern zu medien- und wettbewerbsrechtlichen Fragen</li><li>Vertretung von ProSiebenSat.1 (P7S1) im Verfahren vor dem Bundesverwaltungsgericht bei der erfolgreichen Anfechtung der Entscheidung der Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (KEK) zur Untersagung der Übernahme von P7S1 durch Axel Springer</li></ul>

Andreas Grünwald

Managing Partner, Berlin

Michael Miller has nearly three decades experience helping clients successfully navigate through the most complex litigation and regulatory challenges they face. He regularly represents clients in major antitrust and class action litigation, and in managing antitrust risks presented by complex transactional and other business matters, including strategy and structuring of transactions to overcome potential regulatory hurdles and achieve strategic business objectives.Mike’s practice includes all aspects of complex financial services, antitrust, privacy, and commercial litigation. He also has an active practice representing clients in merger control proceedings in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions as part of the multinational merger notification and review process.Mike has considerable experience representing financial services companies in investigations initiated by various antitrust regulators, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the New York Department of Financial Services, and others. Mike has a history of representing companies before the U.S. and EU competition law regulators in the telecommunications, semiconductors, software, network services, pharmaceutical, industrial, financial services, consumer products, chemical, and technology industries.Mike maintains an active pro bono practice, regularly representing New York City public school students seeking special education and other services from the City and State. <h4 dir="ltr">Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (Eastern District of Pennsylvania). Representing Glenmark in a federal antitrust multidistrict litigation alleging price fixing and market allocation of generic drugs by manufacturers of generic drugs.</li><li>In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation (Eastern District of New York). Representing a major financial institution in federal antitrust class and individual actions alleging that the payment card practices of the defendant card networks and financial institutions constitute an unreasonable restraint of trade and illegal monopolization. This is likely the largest private antitrust case ever brought.</li><li>Copperweld Wiring (Northern District of Alabama and other courts). Representing wire manufacturer in antitrust and false-advertising suit against three major copper wire competitors.</li><li>SoftBank/Sprint/T-Mobile. Represented Sprint and SoftBank before DOJ/FCC and at trial against multiple State Attorneys’ General seeking to block the T-Mobile-Sprint merger as anti-competitive. After a two-week trial, the Court dismissed the case and the merger closed successfully. </li><li>Arm Limited/Softbank. Represented SoftBank Group and Arm Limited on complex antitrust and national security issues arising from NVIDIA’s proposed acquisition of Arm from SoftBank for $65 billion.</li><li>Data Breach and Privacy Matters. Representing a variety of clients in connection with regulatory and litigation issues arising out of data breach events and general data security counseling and compliance.</li><li>FCRA Matters. Representing significant information-service provider in actions around the country alleging violations of the FCRA and related statues and in federal and state regulatory proceedings.</li><li>Southwest Gas Holdings. Obtained antitrust regulatory clearances in connection with Southwest Gas Holdings’ $2 billion acquisition of Questar Pipeline and subsequent sale of certain assets. </li><li>Programmatic Advertising. Represented digital programmatic healthcare advertising firm in lawsuit seeking to block acquisition.</li><li>Alcon Vision (Southern District of New York). Won dismissal of all antitrust claims against a contact lens manufacturer.</li><li>Dale v. T-Mobile, et al. (Northern District of Illinois). Won dismissal of antitrust lawsuit against SoftBank. </li><li>EMV Litigation (Northern District of California). Won dismissal of class action antitrust litigation arising out of the introduction of chip card standards to the US payments sector.</li><li>In re Late Fee and Over-Limit Fee Antitrust Litigation (Northern District of California). Won dismissal of class action challenging late and over-limit fees. Dismissal affirmed on appeal.</li><li>In re Dental Supply Antitrust Litigation (Eastern District of New York). Negotiated resolution of individual and class action antitrust litigation in the dental supplies industry. </li><li>Antitrust and Bank Holding Company Act Litigation (Middle District of Florida). Won dismissal of sprawling antitrust and BHCA litigation on behalf of major financial institution.</li><li>Amadeus IT Group (Southern District of New York). Won dismissal of class action litigation in the travel services industry.</li><li>Overdraft Litigation (Eastern District of Pennsylvania). Represented a major financial institution in successfully resolving class action litigation arising out of overdraft practices.</li><li>Other Merger Clearances. Has obtained merger clearances in the US and EU for clients in the financial services, telecommunications, network services, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, oil and gas, consumer products, chemical, packaging, and metals industries.</li><li>GSE FCRA Litigation (Ninth Circuit, District of Arizona). Won dismissal of FCRA litigation against a large government-sponsored enterprise in the District of Arizona.</li><li>Privacy Litigation (District of Colombia; District of Columbia Superior Court). Won motions to dismiss in two actions that alleged violations of various statutory rights to privacy stemming from customer service practices. Both dismissals affirmed on appeal.</li><li>Richbell Information Services, Inc., et al. v. Jupiter Partners LP, et al. Represented Lord Jacob Rothschild and several publicly traded English investment trusts in the New York Commercial Division in litigation arising out of disputes among shareholders. Resolved successfully for client.</li></ul>

Michael Miller

An antitrust specialist with more than 15 years of experience, Marie-Claire advises clients on merger control and foreign investment aspects of complex global transactions, investigations, abuse of dominance, and complex vertical agreements. Drawing on this expertise, she also chairs the firm’s cross-practice Government Strategies group.She has advised corporate clients and financial investors across a range of sectors including technology, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, energy, retail, healthcare, sports rights and industrials. In addition to coordinating complex multi-jurisdictional advice and delivering EU and other global merger control and foreign investment clearances, she has extensive UK CMA experience, having acted for clients on a number of complex CMA investigations, both at Phase 1 and Phase 2 and having delivered multiple informal CMA clearances. She regularly advises on CMA engagement strategy in global deals.She also regularly counsels clients in relation to compliance across all aspects of competition law, including horizontal and vertical commercial agreements and dominance. She has also represented clients before the EU and UK regulators in relation to both cartels and abuse of dominance as well as in the context of market investigations.Marie-Claire is recognized in each of the annual editions of Who’s Who Legal: Competition – Future Leaders from 2017 to 2024.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Advising Unity Technologies in relation to its $4.4B Acquisition of ironSource</li></ul><ul><li>Advising Nikon Corporation, a globally active Japanese manufacturer of optical technology solutions, in connection with the public takeover of SLM Solutions Group AG, a Lübeck-based manufacturer of metal 3D printers</li><li>Advising SoftBank in Connection with $3.4 Billion Combination of Eutelsat and OneWeb</li><li>Advising Endurance Acquisition Corp in connection with its investment in Satixfy</li><li>Advising a major record label in relation to a CMA market study into music streaming</li><li>Advising a major energy company and fund manager, active in retail, generation and fund management in relation to the merger control and foreign investment aspects of strategic investment</li><li>Advising a global software company in relation to a CMA merger control investigation into its acquisition of a key competitor</li><li>Advising a UK grocery retailer in relation to a CMA investigation into a failed merger between two of the four major UK grocery retailers</li><li>Advising a consortium of financial investors on the global merger control and UK and foreign public interest aspects of a takeover of UK-based satellite telecommunications company</li></ul>

Marie-Claire Strawbridge

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe frameborder="0" class="sticky-video" allowfullscreen="1" title="Meet Penny Preovolos, Litigation Partner" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hv7hYn-Bl7c?rel=0&showinfo=0;vq=hd1080" title="iframe"></iframe></div>Penelope has served as lead counsel in major consumer class actions and antitrust cases for more than 35 years, successfully representing high-profile defendants in antitrust, consumer fraud, and product defect matters. Her clients span a range of industries, including consumer electronics, technology, retail, publishing, food and beverage, cosmetics, and household products. According to Chambers USA, Penelope has a “great reputation for antitrust and product liability work” and is a “superb all-around antitrust lawyer.”Penelope was named the 2019 Antitrust Lawyer of the Year by the Antitrust, UCL, and Privacy Section of the California Lawyers Association. She was co-chair of MoFo’s antitrust practice for 14 years. She has served as chair of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section of the State Bar of California and as a member of the Ninth Circuit Advisory Committee on Local Rules and Operations. She is an editor of and frequent contributor to Morrison & Foerster’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/">Class Dismissed blog</a>, as well as a frequent speaker about class action and antitrust issues.More About PenelopePenelope clerked for the Honorable Charles M. Merrill, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review. Penelope was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at the University of California, Berkeley. She was awarded the University Medal, the highest undergraduate honor at the university, as well as the English Departmental Citation (awarded to the outstanding graduate in that department).