Antitrust/Competition

Barbara Wootton, a counsel in the Washington, DC office, represents clients in government reviews of mergers and acquisitions, antitrust litigation, defense of government investigations, counseling, and establishing effective antitrust compliance and training programs. Ms. Wootton has considerable experience in competition matters involving the pharmaceutical sector in particular and has represented clients in a range of other industries including biotechnology, private equity, telecommunications, consumer products, and real estate. Ms. Wootton also has counseled clients and prepared regulatory filings for numerous transactions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Before joining Arnold & Porter LLP, Ms. Wootton served as judicial clerk to the Honorable Murray M. Schwartz, United Sates District Court for the District of Delaware and to the Honorable John M. Steadman of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Prior to entering law school, Ms. Wootton worked as an economist at the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Antitrust/Competition Representative Matters

• Texas Pacific Group in defending civil antitrust claims related to the leveraged buy-out bidding practices of the leading private equity firms.
• Ferring Pharmaceuticals in defending direct and indirect purchaser monopolization class actions and state attorneys general investigation asserting that enforcement of allegedly fraudulently-obtained patent kept generic competitors off the market (In re DDAVP Antitrust Litigation).
• AT&T Inc. in its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom.
• Pactiv Corporation, a leading manufacturer of packaging products including Hefty® brands, in obtaining FTC clearance of its US$4.5 billion acquisition by Rank Group, private equity owner of Reynolds packaging business.
• Wyeth in Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit challenging the settlement of a patent infringement dispute (resolved by consent decree).
• General Electric Company with respect to Department of Justice (DOJ) civil antitrust investigation into certain contracting and exclusivity practices (DOJ closed its investigation).
• Counsel major global pharmaceutical manufacturers regarding antitrust implications of patent settlements and filings under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement & Modernization Act of 2003.
• Conducted antitrust audits of FORTUNE 100 company division and of US operations of a global chemical manufacturer, counseled regarding antitrust risks and risk mitigation options, developed antitrust compliance guidelines and conducted antitrust trainings.