GCR Nominates Axinn for Litigation of the Year, Deal of the Year and Dealmaker of the Year

Global Competition Review has nominated Axinn for three GCR Awards for excellence in 2016, including Litigation of the Year, Deal of the Year and Dealmaker of the Year.

Axinn’s work on SawStop v Black & Decker et al earned the firm a nomination for Litigation of the Year. On October 18, Axinn won summary judgment for Stanley Black & Decker on a claim brought against Stanley Black & Decker, Bosch, Ryobi and other major table saw manufacturers by rival SawStop, LLC that sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for allegedly boycotting SawStop’s technology. Concluding that SawStop knew all of the facts necessary to bring its claim and did not exercise diligence in seeking additional facts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that SawStop's claim was barred by the four-year antitrust statute of limitations. The Axinn team was led by partners John Harkrider, Richard Dagen and John Tanski, with assistance from associate Brooke Oppenheimer. 

For Deal of the Year, Axinn served as global coordinating antitrust counsel for Dell Inc. in its successful $67 billion acquisition of EMC Corp., the largest technology merger in history. Axinn helped Dell secure unconditional clearance in 18 jurisdictions including, notably, the U.S., European Union, Brazil and China. The Axinn team was led by partners John Harkrider, Michael Keeley, Daniel Bitton and Russell Steinthal, with assistance from associates Kenina Lee, Michael O’Mara and Kail Jethmalani.  Keeley led Axinn’s efforts in China to obtain clearance from MOFCOM, whose approval was the final condition to closing.

GCR has shortlisted John Harkrider, co-chair of Axinn’s antitrust practice for Dealmaker of the Year.  In 2016, Harkrider led global teams on deals worth more than $70 billion dollars, including Dell/EMC, which was valued at $67 billion and received extensive merger review around the world.  That deal involved using an unusual strategy that consisted of delaying Hart-Scott-Rodino and DG Comp notification so that the enforcers could undertake an extensive review without time pressure, and without formally starting a second review.

The finalists were chosen by Global Competition Review’s editorial team and GCR readers will decide the winner through an online vote.  The winners will be announced at the GCR Awards Dinner on Tuesday, March 28th in Washington, DC.