Justin’s practice areas include representing clients in investigations of mergers and acquisitions and civil conduct investigations before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and State Attorneys General.
Justin also provides advice on the full range of antitrust issues, including premerger notification requirements in the United States and abroad, joint ventures, agency conduct investigations, agency Order compliance, and civil antitrust litigation, standard setting, and the intersection of antitrust and ESG.
While on secondment to Freshfields’ London office (2015), Justin represented clients in mergers before the European Commission, including Phase I and Phase II investigations, third-party merger control strategy, and pre-signing considerations. Justin also advised clients on horizontal restraints analysis pursuant to EC Article 101.
Justin has been recognized by leading industry publications as: a “Rising Star” in antitrust by Law360 and the National Law Journal in 2021; shortlisted for young lawyer of the year award by Global Competition Review; and a “Future Leader” by Who’s Who Legal since 2018. Clients commend him as, “a standout performer […] and someone you want on your team” and that he displays “fantastic skills when dealing with clients and agencies.”
Prior to joining Freshfields, Justin oversaw antitrust merger investigations as a lead attorney in the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. He also represented the FTC in regulatory rulemaking, International Energy Agency monitoring and competitive pricing investigations.
Justin is an active participant in the American Bar Association and serves on the advisory boards of The Antitrust Bulletin and The Fordham Competition Law Institute, International Antitrust Law and Policy Conference. He is also the co-editor of Competition Policy International’s North America column on evolving antitrust issues.
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- AstraZeneca on its $1.05bn acquisition of Amolyt Pharma.
- AstraZeneca on its $2bn acquisition of Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
- Global organizations and corporate clients on the antitrust and competition law aspects of individual ESG initiatives and sector/industry collaborations.
- Bucherer AG in its sale to a manufactoring company.
- Sonoco Products Company on its $330 million in cash acquisition of the remaining equity interest in its joint venture with the WestRock Company, RTS Packaging, and one paper mill in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- Zymergen on its $300 million sale to Ginkgo Bioworks—the first-ever sale of a publicly-listed public benefit corporation.
- Cargill, one of the largest private companies in the US, in the $4.53bn take-private of Nasdaq-listed Sanderson Farms and the concurrent combination of Sanderson Farms with privately-held Wayne Farms.
- Stanley Black & Decker on the $3.2bn sale of its global electronic security solutions healthcare solutions businesses to Securitas AB.
- Sonoco in its $1.35bn acquisition of Ball Metalpack.
- AstraZeneca on its successful $39bn acquisition of Alexion including securing unconditional clearance in more than 20 antitrust and foreign direct investment jurisdictions.
- ProAssurance on the antitrust considerations of its $441 million dollar acquisition of NORCAL.
- The London Stock Exchange Group on the US and global merger control aspects of its $27bn deal to acquire Refinitiv.
- Evonik during trial where we successfully defended the company against the FTC’s attempt to block its proposed acquisition of PeroxyChem, a competing hydrogen peroxide producer.
- Smiths Group, a London-listed global technology company, on the international competition and regulatory aspects of its acquisition of Morpho Detection, a California-based detection and security solutions company. Read more about the deal in our case study.
- Intel, a global manufacturer of computer microprocessors and computing devices and leader in the server and semiconductor processing chips industry, on its $16.7bn acquisition of Altera.
- Novartis on two multibillion-dollar transactions: its joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline to form a world-leading consumer healthcare business; and the $5.4bn sale of its animal health business to Eli Lilly.
- Hapag-Lloyd, one of the largest container shipping lines in the world, on its merger with the container shipping activities of Chile’s Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV).
- In the defense of a US industrial manufacturer in an FTC Section 5 investigation of alleged anticompetitive co-ordination among US suppliers, resulting in closing of the investigation with no enforcement action.
Justin’s experience at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission includes:
- In the Matter of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. and Lender Processing Services (2014);
- In the Matter of Bosley, Inc., a corporation, and Aderans America Holdings, Inc., a corporation, and Aderans Co., Ltd., a corporation (2013);
- In the Matter of CoStar Group, Inc., Lonestar Acquisition Sub, Inc., and LoopNet, Inc (2012); and
- In the Matter of Pilot Corporation, et al. (2010).
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Education
- JD, University of Iowa College of Law.
- BA, Economics, Grinnell College.
Professional
- Admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the State of New York.
- Advisory Board of The Fordham Competition Law Institute, International Antitrust Law and Policy Conference.
- Advisory Board of The Antitrust Bulletin.
- Active participant in the American Bar Association, having served as Faculty on the Antitrust Section’s Mergers Practice Workshop (2013) and the Young Lawyers Division representative to the Transportation and Energy Industries Committee (2011).
- Former lead attorney in the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.
Awards and recognitions
- Rising Star 2021 – Competition, Law360
- Shortlisted – Lawyer of the Year Under 40 2021, Global Competition Review
- Rising Star 2021 – National Law Journal
- Competition – Future Leader, 2018-2023, Who’s Who Legal Competition: Future Leaders
- Ranked #3 Most Highly Regarded Future Leader in North America, 2018, Who’s Who Legal Competition: Future Leaders
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