Morrison & Foerster has been recognized as a leading firm by the Global Competition Review in its GCR 100 2022 edition. Our antitrust team in Washington, D.C. was listed as a “Highly Recommended” firm and the strength of our Tokyo antitrust practice led to recognition as a “leading” international firm in Japan. A comprehensive listing of the world’s best competition practices, the GCR 100 has provided a quantitative and qualitative analysis of law firms handling the world’s most impressive, complex, and significant antitrust and competition matters for over two decades.
Considered the cornerstone of Morrison & Foerster’s global antitrust practice, the Washington, D.C.-based practice experienced significant growth with GCR noting the “big hires in 2021”of co-chair Alex Okuliar and partner David Shaw from the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. Their high-profile arrivals, along with a number of new of counsel and associates, highlight the continued expansion of our practice’s global footprint and underscore the commitment to its continued growth in D.C.
Notable work from our D.C. antitrust team included reaching a favorable settlement agreement on behalf of Matsuo Electric Co., Ltd. in December 2021, less than three days into a federal class action antitrust jury trial. Matsuo settled with the class for $5 million dollars—an extraordinary outcome for the client, which faced $1.3 billion in treble damages exposure at trial. Additionally, we served as lead antitrust counsel to SoftBank Group on several high-profile deals, such as the landmark $59 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, NVIDIA’s proposed $40 billion acquisition of Arm and WeWork’s $9 billion tie-up with BowX. We also represented ShowingTime.com, Inc. in its $500 million acquisition by Zillow Group, Inc. Our global cartel investigations and litigation team represents U.S. and multinational corporations and executives in a multitude of DOJ and global enforcer actions, including in the DOJ’s international cartel prosecution of U.S v Seris, et al, DDC.
Our Tokyo-based antitrust team is the largest of its kind among international firms in Japan and is comprised of Japanese, European, and U.S. qualified partners, including a former chief investigator with the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). We regularly advise Japanese and foreign clients across a wide range of industries on transactional matters and investigations including JFTC and global antitrust investigations, both civil and criminal; antitrust litigation in Japan and around the globe, both standalone claims and follow-on civil damages cases; merger reviews and strategic antitrust counselling; cartel, monopolization, and administrative fine (kachokin) cases; unfair trade and deceptive advertising issues and matters related to pricing policies, intellectual property licensing, patent pools, distribution arrangements, and trade associations.
Notable work from our Tokyo antitrust team included advising Santen Pharmaceuticals in global filings for its joint venture with Verily Life Sciences, and successfully represented SoftBank in EU merger filings with respect to its formation of a strategic alliance with Mizuho Financial Group to develop next generation financial services in Japan.
You can view Morrison & Foerster’s recognition on Global Competition Review’s website.
For further information, please contact:
David J. Shaw, Partner, Morrison & Foerster
dshaw@mofo.com
