Senior FTC Antitrust Attorney Pete Levitas Joins Arnold & Porter

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 7, 2013 -- Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that Peter J. Levitas, a former senior official in the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission, has joined the firm's Washington, D.C. office as partner in its Antitrust group. Mr. Levitas brings a significant range of experience addressing complex merger and conduct investigations, particularly those affecting the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and technology sectors. Mr. Levitas joins a nationally-recognized practice that has handled many closely-watched and impactful competition disputes.

For the past four years, Mr. Levitas has served as Deputy Director in the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission, where he was responsible for the FTC's Mergers 1, Health Care, and Anticompetitive Practices divisions, as well as the FTC's Northeast Regional Office in New York. In this role, Mr. Levitas oversaw investigations and related litigation for merger and conduct cases across an array of industries. He was also the lead negotiator responsible for spearheading the discussions that led to the settlement of the Intel litigation, as well as those that resolved the Google investigations earlier this year.

"Pete brings deep knowledge of the policy, investigation and litigation issues at both the state and federal levels," said Arnold & Porter's chair Thomas H. Milch. "As an experienced antitrust attorney with a broad range of government experience, he fully understands the competition landscape facing corporations today, particularly those who may be dealing with state or federal investigations of a merger or alleged anticompetitive conduct."

Added Jonathan Gleklen, chair of the firm's U.S. Antitrust Practice: "Pete's deep familiarity with a wide array of antitrust issues, as well as federal and state antitrust enforcers and Congress, complements our existing capabilities and will be of great value to our clients."

Mr. Levitas also worked for more than five years as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. In addition, he has almost a decade of experience on Capitol Hill, including seven years as the Staff Director and Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Mr. Levitas was also counsel at a well-respected Washington D.C. law firm, where he represented Fortune 500 companies subject to state and federal civil investigations focusing on antitrust, competition and consumer protection issues.

"Companies facing a merger review or conduct investigation need the kind of sophisticated antitrust advice for which Arnold & Porter is justifiably well known," said Mr. Levitas. "My experience at the FTC and earlier work in the Senate and in the Antitrust Division allows me to bring a valuable perspective to the firm and its clients, and I'm very much looking forward to joining the team at Arnold & Porter."

Mr. Levitas graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania and received a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

Arnold & Porter LLP is an international law firm of more than 800 lawyers with offices in Brussels, Denver, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D. C. The firm, founded in 1946, maintains more than 26 practice areas spanning a broad spectrum of the law, with a primary focus on litigation, transactional matters, and regulatory issues.