Antitrust/Competition

Matthew Shultz practices in the areas of trade regulation, both antitrust and consumer protection, administrative law, and litigation. His trade regulation practice focuses on counseling clients in government reviews of mergers and acquisitions, counseling clients on consumer protection and advertising issues, including green marketing claims, assisting clients with government consumer protection investigations, and civil and criminal antitrust litigation and government investigations. Mr. Shultz has represented clients in a variety of sectors, including consumer products, energy, finance, industrial, online and mobile content, and pharmaceuticals.

He is also a contributor to the blog on consumer marketing legal issues, www.consumeradvertisinglawblog.com.

Antitrust/Competition Representative Matters

Antitrust

• General Electric in connection with its US$3.2 billion acquisition of Converteam, a leading provider of power conversion equipment. The transaction closed after a second request and a US consent decree in which GE agreed to a post-closing divestiture of Converteam's Electric Machinery subsidiary.
• Talecris Biotherapeutics, a manufacturer of plasma-derived therapies, in Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigations regarding proposed acquisitions of Talecris by CSL and Grifols, respectively. 
• Counseling clients with respect to Hart Scott Rodino Act compliance and merger clearance.
• Representing clients in nonpublic FTC and Department of Justice merger and civil investigations.
• Assisting clients in criminal cartel investigations and follow-on class actions.

Consumer Protection

• Mobile content provider and aggregator before the FTC and the Florida Attorney General in investigations related to mobile content marketing and billing, favorably settled.
• A high-profile client in non-public FTC and state consumer protection investigations of its online commercial practices.
• Counseling clients on various advertising and marketing issues, including green marketing claims and Made in USA claims.

Administrative Law and Litigation

• Biotechnology Industry Organization and Monsanto Company as amici in a successful Administrative Procedure Act challenge to Patent and Trademark Office rules.
• Southern Nuclear Operating Company in a major breach of contract action in the US Court of Federal Claims against the United States in which the Court awarded US$80 million in damages to the client based on the US government's failure to accept delivery of spent nuclear fuel in a timely manner.