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Partner
Practice Focus
Antitrust/Competition
As head of the firm’s US antitrust practice, Deborah Feinstein is a leading antitrust lawyer, principally focusing on merger and acquisition matters, and conduct investigations, before the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and US Department of Justice (DOJ). Global Competition Review named her global "Lawyer of the Year" for 2010 and named her on its international list of the "Top 100 Women in Antitrust"; The National Law Journal named her one of the most influential women lawyers in America and in Washington, DC; and Super Lawyers named her one of the top 50 women lawyers in Washington, DC. Ms. Feinstein has advised clients on hundreds of transactions, involving virtually all sectors of the economy. She has particular experience with clients whose businesses involve retail, food, consumer products, healthcare, chemicals, automotive parts, and government contractors.
She is Editor-in-Chief of Antitrust, a publication issued by the ABA's Section of Antitrust Law.
Antitrust/Competition Representative Matters
- General Electric and NBC Universal in connection with the Comcast-NBCU joint venture
- Unilever in its acquisition of the Alberto Culver hair care business.
- Pepsi in the acquisitions of PepsiCo Bottling Group Inc. and PepsiAmericas Inc.
- AMC in its purchase of Kerasotes Showplace Theaters, LLC.
- Air Products in its US$5 billion hostile acquisition of Airgas, Inc.
- General Electric in its US$3 billion acquisition of Dresser Inc.
- Unilever in the sale of its Lawry's & Adolph's spice/seasonings business to McCormick.
- Boston Scientific Corporation, the world's largest medical device company dedicated to less-invasive medicine, in its US$27 billion acquisition of Guidant. The transaction also included a US$4 billion pre-closing divestiture to Abbott Laboratories of Guidant's endovascular solutions and vascular intervention businesses but allowed Boston Scientific to retain rights with respect to Guidant's drug-eluting stent portfolio.
- Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corporation in its merger with AMC Entertainment Inc. Together the firms will own or operate 334 theatres nationwide. The matter was resolved with the DOJ and various state attorneys general with the divestiture of only 10 theatres.
- The Kroger Co. in its US$13.5 billion merger with Fred Meyer, Inc., negotiated with the FTC to require the divestiture of only 8 stores. The combined company became, at the time, the largest grocery retailer in the United States.
- General Electric Corporation's US$2.1 billion acquisition of Instrumentarium OYJ, a manufacturer of high-technology medical equipment.
- Philip Morris and Kraft in their US$18.9 billion acquisition of Nabisco Holdings Corporation, creating the world's largest food company. Negotiations with the FTC resulted in the divestiture of only minimal assets.
- Occidental Chemical Company in the US$360 million purchase of Vulcan Materials Company's chemical assets.
- PepsiCo in its US$14 billion acquisition of The Quaker Oats Company. The merger strengthened PepsiCo's food businesses and added Gatorade, the leading sports drink brand, to its portfolio.
- Meritor Automotive in its merger with Arvin Industries to become ArvinMeritor, a leading automotive industry supplier.
- NBC's US $5.2 billion acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, creating one of the world's largest media and entertainment companies.
- Genzyme's acquisition of Novazyme. The acquisition combined the only two companies performing research and development on a rare disease.
Representative Matters
- General Electric and NBC Universal in connection with the Comcast-NBCU joint venture.
- Unilever in its acquisition of the Alberto Culver hair care business.
- Pepsi in the acquisitions of PepsiCo Bottling Group Inc. and PepsiAmericas Inc.
- AMC in its purchase of Kerasotes Showplace Theaters, LLC.
- Air Products in its US$5 billion hostile acquisition of Airgas, Inc.
- General Electric in its US$3 billion acquisition of Dresser Inc.
- Unilever in the sale of its Lawry's & Adolph's spice/seasonings business to McCormick.
- Boston Scientific Corporation, the world's largest medical device company dedicated to less-invasive medicine, in its US$27 billion acquisition of Guidant. The transaction also included a US$4 billion pre-closing divestiture to Abbott Laboratories of Guidant's endovascular solutions and vascular intervention businesses but allowed Boston Scientific to retain rights with respect to Guidant's drug-eluting stent portfolio.
- Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corporation in its merger with AMC Entertainment Inc. Together the firms will own or operate 334 theatres nationwide. The matter was resolved with the DOJ and various state attorneys general with the divestiture of only 10 theatres.
- The Kroger Co. in its US$13.5 billion merger with Fred Meyer, Inc., negotiated with the FTC to require the divestiture of only 8 stores. The combined company became, at the time, the largest grocery retailer in the United States.
- General Electric Corporation' s US$2.1 billion acquisition of Instrumentarium OYJ, a manufacturer of high-technology medical equipment.
- Philip Morris and Kraft in their US$18.9 billion acquisition of Nabisco Holdings Corporation, creating the world's largest food company. Negotiations with the FTC resulted in the divestiture of only minimal assets.
- Occidental Chemical Company in the US$360 million purchase of Vulcan Materials Company's chemical assets.
- PepsiCo in its US$14 billion acquisition of The Quaker Oats Company. The merger strengthened PepsiCo's food businesses and added Gatorade, the leading sports drink brand, to its portfolio.
- Meritor Automotive in its merger with Arvin Industries to become ArvinMeritor, a leading automotive industry supplier.
- NBC's US $5.2 billion acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, creating one of the world's largest media and entertainment companies.
- Genzyme 's acquisition of Novazyme. The acquisition combined the only two companies performing research and development on a rare disease.
Rankings
Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business 2012-2013 for Competition/Antitrust: USA
Global Competition Review 2013 Women in Antitrust
Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2012 for Antitrust (DC)
PLC Which lawyer? Yearbook 2012: Highly recommended for Competition/Anti-trust
The Best Lawyers in America 2012 for Antitrust Law
Washingtonian's "Best Lawyers" 2011 for Antitrust
Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2011 for Antitrust
Washington, DC Super Lawyers 2007-2011 "Top 50 Women Lawyers in DC" for Antitrust Litigation
Global Competition Review 2011 "Lawyer of the Year"
Euromoney's Guide to Women in Business Law 2010: included as an Expert in Competition and Antitrust
The National Law Journal list of "Washington's Most Influential Women Lawyers" 2010
Global Competition Review 2009 "Women in Antitrust"
Expert Guides “The Best of the Best USA 2009” for Competition and Antitrust
The National Law Journal "50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America" 2007
Lawdragon 500 "Leading Lawyers in America" 2006
Global Competition Review's international list of "Top 100 Women in Antitrust" 2004
The Legal 500 US 2012 for Antitrust
Washington, DC Super Lawyers 2012 for Antitrust Litigation
The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers 2011
Articles
Deborah L. Feinstein "New Leadership At the Federal Antitrust Agencies: Change Matters" (PDF: 111 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 27, No. 2, Spring 2013
Deborah L. Feinstein "Federal Government Antitrust Enforcement-Then and Now" (PDF: 100 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 27, No. 1, Fall 2012
Deborah L. Feinstein "Process Divergence As an Obstacle To Substance Convergence?" (PDF: 98 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 26, No. 3, Summer 2012
Deborah L. Feinstein "The Significance of H&R Block: Brown Shoe Meets Merger Simulation" (PDF: 82 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 26, No. 2, Spring 2012
Deborah L. Feinstein and Andrew Macurdy "Antitrust Agencies Action in 2012: A Look Ahead by Assessing the Year Behind" (PDF: 389 kB) Antitrust Counselor Newsletter, Vol. 6.1, March 2012
Deborah L. Feinstein "Conduct Merger Remedies: Tried But Not Tested" (PDF: 98 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 26, No. 1, Fall 2011
Deborah L. Feinstein "Thoughts on Experts-From a Non-Expert Perspective" (PDF: 96 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 25, No. 3, Summer 2011
Deborah L. Feinstein "Antitrust Enforcement: Never a Dull Moment" (PDF: 87 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 25, No. 2, Spring 2011
Deborah L. Feinstein "The Revised Merger Guidelines: Did the Agencies Heed the Lessons of the Past?" (PDF: 82 kB) The Antitrust Source, October 2010
Deborah L. Feinstein "The New Merger Guidelines: Using Statistical Analysis to AssessTheir Impact" (PDF: 97 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 25, No. 1, Fall 2010
Deborah L. Feinstein "Are the Vertical Merger Guidelines Ripe for Revision?" (PDF: 95 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 24, No. 3, Summer 2010
Deborah L. Feinstein "Increased Antitrust Enforcement: A Prescription for Lower Health Care Costs?" (PDF: 76 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 24, No. 2, Spring 2010
Deborah L. Feinstein "Enforcement Changes: Evolution or Revolution?" (PDF: 70 kB) Antitrust, Vol. 24, No. 1, Fall 2009
Deborah L. Feinstein "Changing Emphasis: How Whole Foods Advances the FTC's Efforts to Transform Merger Litigation" (PDF: 66 kB) GPC: The Online Magazine for Global Competition Policy, September 2008
Deborah L. Feinstein and Michael B. Bernstein "A Perspective on the Whole Foods Decision: Would the Most Important Evidence Please Stand Up?" Competition Policy International, Spring 2008
Deborah L. Feinstein, Marleen Van Kerckhove and Barbara H. Wootton "Merger remedies in the EU and US" (PDF: 193 kB) Practical Law Company's Cross-border Competition Handbook, Volume 1, 2007/08
Deborah L. Feinstein and Michael B. Bernstein "All Over the Map: Grocery Store Enforcement from Von's to Whole Foods" (PDF: 131 kB) Antitrust, Fall 2007
Deborah L. Feinstein "Recent Trends in U.S. Merger Enforcement: Down But Not Out" (PDF: 117 kB) Antitrust, Summer 2007
Douglas L. Wald and Deborah L. Feinstein "Merger Enforcement in Innovation Markets: The Latest Chapter--Genzyme/Novazyme" (PDF: 80 kB) The Antitrust Source, July 20, 2004
Deborah L. Feinstein "Taking Stock: Recent Trends in U.S. Merger Enforcement" (PDF: 100 kB) Antitrust, Spring 2004
Deborah L. Feinstein "Fixing the Problem: Recent Developments in US Merger Remedies" Global Competition Review "The Antitrust Review of the Americas 2004"
Blogs
Deborah L. Feinstein, Danielle M. Garten and Seth J. Wiener "The "Wright" Choice for the FTC?" October 23, 2012
Books
Deborah L. Feinstein and Jonathan Gleklen "Country Q&A United States" (PDF: 412 kB) Practical Law Company's Cross-border Competition Handbook, Vol 1, 2010
Presentations
Deborah L. Feinstein "American Bar Association's Antitrust Fall Forum" National Press Club, Washington, DC, November 13-14, 2009
Advisories
"DOJ/FTC OFF TO A QUICK START ON MERGERS IN NEW YEAR" (PDF: 475 kB) Jan 2013
"FTC Brings Civil Penalty Action for HSR Violation: Investment Only Exemption Did Not Apply" (PDF: 769 kB) Oct 2012
"Federal Trade Commission to Increasingly Seek Monetary Relief in Antitrust Matters" (PDF: 679 kB) Aug 2012
"Seventh Circuit Rejects Shareholders' Derivative Suit Against Alleged Interlocking Directorate, But Antitrust Risks Remain" (PDF: 391 kB) Jun 2012
"FTC and DOJ Announce Substantial Changes to HSR Premerger Notification Rules and Form" (PDF: 412 kB) Jul 2011
"DOJ Issues Updated Merger Remedies Guide" (PDF: 360 kB) Jun 2011
"DOJ Challenges Non-reportable US$3 Million Deal on Buyer Power Theory" (PDF: 414 kB) May 2011
"US Agencies Release Proposed Revision to Horizontal Merger Guidelines" (PDF: 341 kB) May 2010
"DOJ Obtains Settlement Against Companies Charged With Illegal Pre-Merger Coordination" (PDF: 265 kB) Feb 2010
"FTC Wins a Merger Preliminary Injunction: FTC v. CCC Holdings, Inc" (PDF: 295 kB) May 2009
"Commissioner Jon Leibowitz Named FTC Chair" (PDF: 261 kB) Mar 2009
"Recent FTC Merger Review Developments" (PDF: 259 kB) Jan 2009
"FTC v. Whole Foods: The Standard May Be More Important Than The Substance" (PDF: 287 kB) Aug 2008
"Federal District Courts Reject Two Recent FTC Merger Challenges" (PDF: 192 kB) Jun 2007
"DOJ Streamlines Merger Review Process" (PDF) Jan 2007
"New Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Regulations" (PDF) Mar 2005
"Antitrust Division Releases Guide to Merger Remedies" (PDF) Dec 2004
"Merger Enforcement in Innovation Markets: The Latest Chapter" (PDF) Jan 2004
Multimedia
William J. Baer, Dennis Carlton and
Deborah L. Feinstein.
"WEBCAST: The Proposed Revisions to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines: What Firms Contemplating a Transaction Should Know" May 10, 2010.
(also available as a Podcast)