Kolasky, William

William J. Kolasky is a partner in the Washington, DC, office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed. He has nearly 40 years of experience across the full range of antitrust litigation and counseling. Bill regularly represents clients in antitrust litigation before courts all over the country. He also represents clients in criminal and civil investigations before both the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. He has secured antitrust clearance from the two agencies for more than 100 mergers and acquisitions, and has coordinated merger reviews in multiple jurisdictions around the world. He also regularly counsels clients about antitrust aspects of a wide variety of business arrangements, from joint ventures to distribution arrangements. In 2013, he received the Global Competition Review's Lifetime Achievement Award for his accomplishments in private practice, government service and antitrust scholarship.

Bill served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice. While there, he was one of the architects of the International Competition Network, a network of over 100 competition authorities worldwide designed to promote greater international cooperation and convergence among those authorities. He has also taught antitrust law for over 10 years at American University's Washington College of Law.

Professional Activities

William publishes and speaks regularly on antitrust law subjects in both the United States and Europe. He has taught antitrust law at American University's Washington College of Law. William has been active in the Section of Antitrust Law of the American Bar Association for many years and currently serves as an associate editor for their Antitrust Magazine

Previous Experience

Deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, 2001 – 2002
Assistant to the general counsel in the Department of the Army, 1972 – 1975
Clerkship, the Honorable Bailey Aldrich, United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, 1971 – 1972

Recognition

Recommended since 2019 in The Legal 500 United States for Antitrust: Marger Control
Recipient of Global Competition Review's 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award
Consistently recognized since 2005 as a national leader in antitrust law in both Chambers Global and Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
Recognized as a leader in his field in the 2009 – 2013 editions of Who's Who of Competition Lawyers and Economists
Nominated by in-house counsel and peers for inclusion in the Guide to the World’s Leading Competition & Antitrust Lawyers, 8th edition
Listed in the 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015 editions of Benchmark Litigation for his leading antitrust practice
Recognized by his peers as one of the world's leading antitrust attorneys in Legal Media Group's The Best of the Best 2006 and The Best of the Best 2011
Selected by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of antitrust law each year since 2005
Selected by his peers as a "Super Lawyer" in the 2007 – 2020 and 2022 editions of Washington, DC, Super Lawyers
Named by his peers as an elite practitioner in the field of competition and antitrust in the 2013 edition of Expert Guides: Best of the Best USA

Highlighted Publications

William Kolasky, The FTC’s Rescission of Its 2015 Policy Statement on Section 5: If Not Consumer Welfare and the Rule of Reason What?, Washington Legal Foundation, Critical Legal Issues Working Paper Series (July 2021)
"Trustbusters: Aaron Director and the Origins of the Chicago School of Antitrust. Part III—The Antitrust Project: Laying the Foundations for Chicago School,” Antitrust Law Journal 35, no. 2 (Spring 2021): 103
"Trustbusters: Aaron Director and the Origins of the Chicago School of Antitrust. Part II—Aaron Director: The Socrates of Hyde Park,” Antitrust Law Journal 35, no. 1 (Fall 2020): 101
"Trustbusters: Aaron Director and the Origins of the Chicago School of Antitrust. Part I—Aaron Director: A Portrait of the Economist as a Young Man,” Antitrust Law Journal 34, no. 3 (Summer 2020): 41
William Kolasky, The Existential Crisis Facing Local Journalism: A Case Study on the Costs of Regulatory Inertia, Broadcasting & Cable, May 22, 2020
"Trustbusters: The Warren Court: A Distant Mirror? Part III—'So we beat on, boats against the current,’" Antitrust Law Journal 34, no. 2 (Spring 2020): 81
"Trustbusters: Justice John Paul Stevens: Keeping the Antitrust Flame Alive," Antitrust Law Journal 34, no. 1 (Fall 2019): 22
"Trustbusters: The Warren Court: A Distant Mirror? Part II—The Two Most Ardent Trustbusters: Hugo Black and William O. Douglas," Antitrust Law Journal 33, no. 3 (Summer 2019): 78
"Trustbusters: The Warren Court: A Distant Mirror? Part One—The Chief: Earl Warren," Antitrust Law Journal 33, no. 2 (Spring 2019): 81
William Kolasky, ‘Unfair Methods of Competition’: The Legislative Intent Underlying Section 5 of the FTC Act, Washington Legal Foundation, Critical Legal Issues Working Paper Series (Dec. 2014)
William Kolasky and Madison Arent, "What to Expect from the Trump Administration: A Historical Perspective," The Antitrust Source, February 2017
"Trustbusters: Thurman Arnold: An American Original," Antitrust Law Journal 27, no. 3 (Summer 2013): 89
"Trustbusters: Robert H. Jackson: How a 'Country Lawyer' Converted Franklin Roosevelt into a Trustbuster," Antitrust 17, no. 2 (Spring 2013): 85
"Antitrust Litigation: What's Changed In Twenty-Five Years," Antitrust 27, no. 1 (Fall 2012): 9
Co-author, "The Role of Anti-Cartel Compliance Programs in Preventing Cartel Behavior," Antitrust 26, no. 2 (Spring 2012): 61
"Trustbusters: George Rublee and the Origins of the Federal Trade Commission," Antitrust 26, no. 1 (Fall 2011): 106
"Trustbusters: The Election of 1912: A Pivotal Moment In Antitrust History," Antitrust 25, no. 3 (Summer 2011): 82
"Trustbusters: Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft: Marching Toward Armageddon," Antitrust 25, no. 2 (Spring 2011): 97
"Trustbusters: Chief Justice Edward Douglass White and the Birth of the Rule of Reason," Antitrust 24, no. 3 (Summer 2010): 77
"Trustbusters: Senator John Sherman and the Origin of Antitrust," Antitrust 24, no. 1 (Fall 2009): 85
"Reinvigorating Antitrust Enforcement in the United States: A Proposal," Antitrust 22, no. 2 (Spring 2008): 85
Co-author, "Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly: Laying Conley v. Gibson to Rest," Antitrust 22, no. 1 (Fall 2007): 27
"GE/Honeywell: Narrowing, But Not Closing, the Gap," Antitrust 20 (Spring 2006): 69
Co-author, "The Federal Trade Commission's Three Tenors Decision: 'Qual Due Fiori A Un Solo Stello'," Antitrust 18 (Spring 2004): 50
Co-author, "The Merger Guidelines and the Integration of Efficiencies Into Antitrust Review of Horizontal Mergers," Antitrust Law Journal 71, no. 1 (2003): 207
Co-author, "The European Commission Notice on the Appraisal of Horizontal Mergers," Antitrust 17 (Summer 2003): 64
"GE/Honeywell: Continuing the Transatlantic Dialog," University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law 23, no.3 (Fall 2002): 513
"Conglomerate Mergers and Range Effects: It's a Long Way From Chicago to Brussels," George Mason Law Review 10 (Spring 2002): 533
"Lessons From Baby Food: The Role of Efficiencies in Merger Review," Antitrust 16 (Fall 2001): 82
"Network Effects: A Contrarian View," George Mason Law Review 7 (Spring 1999): 577
"California Dental Association v. FTC: The New Antitrust Empiricism," Antitrust 14 (Fall 1999): 68
"Counterpoint: The Department of Justice's "Stepwise" Approach Imposes Too Heavy a Burden on Parties to Horizontal Agreements," Antitrust 12 (Spring 1998): 41
"Merger Consent Decrees: Practical Suggestions for Settling a Merger Investigation," Antitrust 12 (Fall 1997): 33
Co-author, "The Merger Review Process at the Federal Trade Commission: Administrative Efficiency and the Rule of Law," American University Washington College of Law Administrative Law Review 49, no. 4 (Fall 1997): 889
"Recent Developments Affecting Transnational Joint Ventures," Antitrust Law Journal 58 (1989): 685
"Merger Enforcement by States and Private Parties," Antitrust Law Journal 56 (1987): 83

Highlighted Speeches

William Kolasky & Daniel Chan, A Defense Lawyer’s Perspective on Umbrella Damages, written for panel at the ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Annual Antitrust Spring Meeting, March 30, 2023
William Kolasky, Monopolization: Where Are the Structural Remedies, prepared for panel at the ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Annual Antitrust Spring Meeting April 6, 2022
William Kolasky, Amanda L. Butler, and Nicole Sarrine, The Future of Content Distribution: Enduring Gales of Creative Destruction, written for panel at the ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Annual Antitrust Spring Meeting, April 23, 2020
"Downloading the Future: Media Mergers and Content Distribution," 63rd ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting, Washington, DC, April 17, 2015
"The Use of Analytics and Predictive Coding When Producing to the Government," "Off the Record" panel discussion sponsored by the E-Discovery Committee of the DC Bar Litigation Section, Washington, DC, Feb. 5, 2015
"Insurance Brokers Bid-Rigging: The Scandal and the Aftermath," ABA Section of Antitrust Law teleseminar, Jan. 9, 2015
Speeches given as deputy assistant attorney general for the DOJ's Antitrust Division, available online here
- "Using Competition Policy to Promote International Competitiveness," American Chamber of Commerce, Seoul, Republic of Korea, Nov. 14, 2002
- "The Role of Competition in Promoting Dynamic Markets and Economic Growth," Tokyo America Center, Tokyo, Nov. 12, 2002
- "Global Competition: Prospects for Convergence and Cooperation," American Bar Association Fall Forum, Washington, DC, Nov. 7, 2002
- "Global Competition Convergence and Cooperation: Looking Back and Looking Ahead," American Bar Association Fall Forum, Washington, DC, Nov. 7, 2002
- "What is Competition?" Seminar on Convergence, sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Hague, Netherlands, Oct. 28, 2002
- "The International Competition Network Guiding Principles for Merger Review," International Bar Association, Sixth Annual Competition Conference, Fiesole, Italy, Sept. 20, 2002
- "Can the International Competition Network Help Tame the Growing Multinational Merger Thicket?" American Bar Association Annual Meeting, Section of Antitrust Law, Washington, DC, Aug. 12, 2002
- "Antitrust Compliance Programs: The Government Perspective," Corporate Compliance Conference, Practising Law Institute, San Francisco, July 12, 2002
- "A Culture of Competition for North America," Economic Competition Day: Shared Experiences, Federal Competition Commission, Mexico City, June 24, 2002
- "Sound Economics and Hard Evidence: The Touchstones of Sound Merger Review," Mergers & Acquisitions: Getting Your Deal Through in the New Antitrust Climate, co-sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law and The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York, June 14, 2002
- "North Atlantic Competition Policy: Converging Toward What?" British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) Second Annual International and Comparative Law Conference, London, May 17, 2002
- "Coordinated Effects in Merger Review: From Dead Frenchmen to Beautiful Minds and Mavericks," ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting, Washington, DC, April 24, 2002
- "United States and European Competition Policy: Are There More Differences Than We Care to Admit?" European Policy Center, Brussels, April 10, 2002
- "International Convergence Efforts: A US Perspective Before the International Dimensions of Competition Law Conference," International Dimensions of Competition Law Conference, Toronto, March 22, 2002
- "Comparative Merger Control Analysis: Six Guiding Principles for Antitrust Agencies—New and Old," International Bar Association, Conference on Competition Law and Policy in a Global Context, Cape Town, South Africa, March 18, 2002
- "US and EU Competition Policy: Cartels, Mergers and Beyond," Council for the United States and Italy, Biannual Conference, New York, Jan. 25, 2002

Court Admissions

United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Highlighted Matters

Civil Litigation

Currently representing Bozzuto Management Company in the RealPage Rental Software Antitrust class action currently pending in Middle District of Tennessee alleging that Bozzuto and more than 40 other landlords and managers of multifamily rental housing engaged in a massive nationwide conspiracy to fix rents by using RealPages Rental Software in setting their rental rates.
Representation of Sinclair Broadcast Group in an antitrust MDL class action alleging the unlawful exchange of pacing information among broadcast TV stations in television advertising markets nationwide
Settled all remaining claims against a major insurance carrier in a massive insurance brokerage multidistrict litigation, after persuading the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm the dismissal of all federal antitrust and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act claims against our client
Secured dismissal of an antitrust class action challenging the bundling of cable programming, and successfully defended the dismissal on appeal in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals

Antitrust Transactions

Represented Merck & Co. in securing FTC clearance for its $3.85 billion acquisition of Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company developing drugs to cure hepatitis C, and its pending acquisition of antibiotics-maker Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $9.5 billion
Successfully represented a major TV station group owner in the US in securing antitrust clearance for a series of acquisitions over a nearly 20-year period, including its $965 million acquisition of eight stations from Allbritton Communications
Secured antitrust clearance for ONEOK, one of the country’s largest midstream natural gas companies, for an $800 million acquisition of natural gas liquids pipelines and related assets in the Permian Basin
Secured antitrust clearance for London-based contract-research organization Chiltern International Limited’s sale to diagnostics company Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings for $1.2 billion
Successfully represented a major newspaper group in a Justice Department investigation of amendments to a joint operating agreement, and in a related private antitrust action seeking to enjoin their implementation

Tell Me More, Tell Me More: The FTC Finalizes Expansion of the HSR Form for the Pre-Merger Review Process

William J. Kolasky

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