
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Transactional
- VMware’s proposed $61 billion acquisition by Broadcom
- Dell's $67 billion acquisition of EMC
- Thermo Fisher Scientific's $13.6 billion acquisition of Life Technologies
- Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility
- Google's $700 million acquisition of ITA
- Ball Corporation's $6.85 billion acquisition of Rexam PLC
Sherman Act Litigation
- Omnicare with respect to its Section One conspiracy claims against United Health in both the Northern District of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit
- United Technologies Corporation in connection with Walker Process and Handgards claims in the Northern District of Illinois and District of Maryland
- Stanley Black & Decker with respect to Section One conspiracy claims in the Eastern District of Virginia and Fourth Circuit
Investigations
- Google Section 2 investigation before agencies throughout the world
- Google with respect to its Standard Essential Patents decree with FTC
- Stanley Works with respect to Made in USA markings
FTC and DOJ Merger Challenges
- Tyson Foods and George’s in DOJ merger challenge in the Western District of Virginia
- SunGard in DOJ merger challenge to acquisition of Comdisco in D.C. District Court
- US DOJ in challenge to WorldCom's $129 billion acquisition of Sprint
Professional Activities
- Editorial Board, ANTITRUST (2007–present)
- American Bar Association, Vice-Chair, Economics Committee, Section of Antitrust Law (2003–2006)
- New York State Bar Association
- New York City Bar Association
Experience
Transactional
- VMware’s proposed $61 billion acquisition by Broadcom
- Dell's $67 billion acquisition of EMC
- Thermo Fisher Scientific's $13.6 billion acquisition of Life Technologies
- Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility
- Google's $700 million acquisition of ITA
- Ball Corporation's $6.85 billion acquisition of Rexam PLC
- Thermo Fisher $2.1 billion acquisition of Dionex
- SunGard Higher Education's $1.77 billion sale of SunGard Higher Education to Datatel
- SunGard's $700 million acquisition of Comdisco's disaster recovery assets
- XLHealth's $2.2 billion sale to UnitedHealth
- Bemis Company's $1.2 billion acquisition of the Food Americas’ assets of Alcan
- Ball Corporation's $577 million acquisition of MCC assets from InBev
- Cingular's $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless
- BellSouth's $67 billion acquisition by AT&T
- Omnicare in its hostile takeover of both Pharmerica and NeighborCare
- Harcourt General with respect to its US $4.5 billion sale to Reed Elsevier and Thompson
- MasterCard’s Board of Directors with respect to their IPO
FTC and DOJ Merger Challenges
- Tyson Foods and George’s in DOJ merger challenge in the Western District of Virginia
- Omnicare in FTC Part III challenge to its acquisition of Pharmerica
- SunGard in DOJ merger challenge to acquisition of Comdisco in D.C. District Court
- US DOJ in challenge to WorldCom's $129 billion acquisition of Sprint
Private Merger Challenges
- Matlin Paterson in private litigation to prevent hostile acquisition of Vantico by Apollo
- Stanley in private litigation to prevent hostile takeover by Newell
Sherman Act Litigation
- Omnicare with respect to its Section One conspiracy claims against United Health in both the Northern District of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit
- United Technologies Corporation in connection with Walker Process and Handgards claims in the Northern District of Illinois and District of Maryland
- Bar/Bri with respect to Section Two monopolization claims in the Ninth and Tenth Circuit
- Stanley Black & Decker with respect to Section One conspiracy claims in the Eastern District of Virginia and Fourth Circuit
- Iowa Beef (now Tysons) with respect to claims under the Packers and Stockyards Act in the Middle District of Alabama
Investigations
- Google Section 2 investigation before agencies throughout the world
- Google with respect to its Standard Essential Patents decree with FTC
- Stanley Works with respect to Made in USA markings
Honors
- Chambers USA – Band 1 (Global, Nationwide and New York City)
- Axinn won Global Competition Review "Law Firm of the Year" (Americas) (2021 and 2016)
- Winner of Global Competition Review "Matter of the Year" (2013)
- Named "Litigator of the Week" by The American Lawyer (January 13, 2013)
- Winner of Global Competition Review "Lawyer of the Year" (2012)
- The Legal 500 United States (2022 – 2023)
- Winner of "Merger Control Matter of the Year" (2012)
- Comp360 MVP (2012)
- Antitrust Writing Award sponsored by the Institute of Competition Law (2014)
- Best Lawyers in America (2017 – 2024)
- Who's Who Legal: Competition (2019 – 2022)
News
- Axinn Partners Named to 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America
- Who's Who Legal Recognizes Ten Axinn Attorneys
- Axinn Attorneys Named to Best Lawyers 2024
- Axinn’s Antitrust Practice Nationally Ranked by The Legal 500 United States for 2023
- Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes Axinn Lawyers and Practice Groups
- View More ›
Thought Leadership
- Who’s Who Legal – Thought Leaders Competition 2022, January 18, 2022
- Remedies in the Context of Multi-Jurisdictional Mergers, GCR Insight: Merger Remedies Guide, October 2021
- Managing Timing of Multi-Jurisdictional Review, GCR Insight: Merger Remedies Guide, October 2020
- What Lemons Teach Us About Privacy and Competition, ABA Antitrust Magazine, Fall 2020
- Break Up Denny’s, Competition Policy International, July 8, 2020
- Assessing the New DOJ, FTC Vertical Merger Guidelines, Law360, July 6, 2020
- The US DOJ and FTC Release Their Vertical Merger Guidelines, Concurrences e-Competitions Bulletin, June 30, 2020
- Who’s Who Legal – Thought Leaders Competition, Who’s Who Legal, December 2019
- Managing Timing of Multi-Jurisdictional Review, GCR Insight: Merger Remedies Guide, October 1, 2019
- Who’s Who Legal – Thought Leaders Competition and Thought Leaders Global Elite, Who’s Who Legal, May 9, 2019
- Antitrust in the Trump Administration: A Tough Enforcer That Believes in Limited Government, ABA Antitrust Magazine, July 20, 2018
- Concentrated Benefits and Dispersed Costs Rent-Seeking by Incumbents Against Innovative and Disruptive Web Based Firms, Douglas H. Ginsburg – An Antitrust Professor on the Bench Liber Amicorum Volume 1, March 1, 2018
- Cash Tender Offers Under the HSR Act: Protecting an Efficient Market for Corporate Control, Antitrust Magazine, Fall 2016
- Working the Clock: Strategic Choices in Managing Global Regulatory Review Timelines, The Antitrust Counselor, March 15, 2016
- John Harkrider Interviewed Director of Competition of the FTC, MLex, June 25, 2015
- Iraq Asks 2nd Circ. For $10B Oil-For-Food Rehearing, Law360, October 3, 2014
- Seeing the Forest Through The SEPs, Antitrust Magazine, March 25, 2014
- Lawyers Weigh In On Obama "Patent Troll" Initiatives, Law360, June 5, 2013
- John Harkrider and Team Featured in The American Lawyer’s ‘Big Suits’ Column, The American Lawyer, February 27, 2013
- Closing at Your Peril: Post-Consummation Merger Challenges, The Threshold, Summer 2012
- Obama: The First Year, ANTITRUST, Summer 2010
- Lessons from the Great Depression, ANTITRUST, April 1, 2009
- Antitrust Enforcement During the Bush Administration, ANTITRUST, July 1, 2008
- Exporting Antitrust Law to China, Global Competition Review, February 2006
- Risk-Shifting Provisions and Antitrust Risk: An Empirical Examination, ANTITRUST, Fall 2005
- Sophistication Snag, The Deal, January 17, 2005
- Proving Anticompetitive Impact: Moving Past Merger Guidelines Presumptions, Columbia Business Law Review, 2005
- Resolving Complex Antitrust Cases Promptly, Icarus, Summer 2002
Events
- GCR Live: Global Merger Control 2022
- Hastings Law Journal Symposium: New Directions in Antitrust
- 2021 Concurrences Global Antitrust Economics Virtual Conference
- 2020 Concurrences Global Antitrust Economics Virtual Conference
- Let's Talk Tech: Merger Analysis in a Modern Economy
- GCR Interactive: Merger Control Virtual Conference
- Concurrences 8th Annual Bill Kovacic Antitrust Salon
- Is the UK CMA Becoming More Interventionist? Perspectives from Both Sides of the Atlantic
- GCR Live: 2nd Annual Merger Control Conference
- 7th Bill Kovacic Antitrust Salon
- GCR Live: DC Workshop
- 2019 Concurrences Global Antitrust Economics Conference
- CompLaw Antitrust West Coast Conference 2019
- NYSBA Section of Antitrust Law 142nd Annual Meeting
- Have We Exceeded the Limits of Antitrust?
- Antitrust Policy in the New Administration
- GCR 6th Annual Live Conference
- Innovation in High Tech: Is Antitrust Policy Helping?
- Slaughter and May Competition Counsel Day
- IBA 15th Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Conference
- ABA Monthly Antitrust Update Program For In-House Counsel February 2016
- 2015 IEEE-SIIT Conference
- GCR Live 3rd Annual New York Conference
- Federal Circuit Bench and Bar Conference
- 2015 GMU Annual Global Antitrust Economics Conference
- Hot Issues in Intellectual Property
- GCR Live 2nd Annual New York Conference
- A Single Merger Control Standard for the US and Abroad?
- Retrospective Analysis of Agency Determinations in Merger Transactions
- Patent Hold-Up and Standard Essential Patents at the ITC: An Examination of Key Issues for Smartphone Manufacturers Engaged in Litigation at the ITC
- Chicago Forum on International Antitrust Issues: Antitrust Perspective on Innovation, New Product Development, Standard Setting and Licensing
- Antitrust in the Obama Second Term: What to Expect
- The FTC Google Consent Decree
Education
- Ph.D. Program – University of Michigan (did not complete dissertation)
- JD, cum laude – University of California, Hastings College of the Law (1991) Order of the Coif
- BA, with highest Honors – University of Michigan (1988)
Admissions
- District of Columbia
- New York
- US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- US District Court Southern District of New York
- Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
Spotlight
GCR Lawyer of the Year
GCR Law Firm of the Year (Americas)
GCR Matter of the Year
GCR Merger Control Matter of the Year
Who’s Who Legal says: "John Harkrider is one of the USA's most prominent antitrust litigators, with an unrivalled corporate practice as well as deep expertise in litigation and agency investigations."
The “brilliant” John Harkrider is a “powerhouse” and “gifted advocate”
– Chambers USA 2014
A "really terrific lawyer" who is a "very smart, excellent writer"
– Chambers USA 2013
Named "Litigator of the Week" by The American Lawyer – January 2013
"an extremely intelligent attorney with formidable understanding of business and finance"
– Chambers USA 2010
"incredibly bright mind and intellectual capacity"
– Chambers USA 2008
"has the best understanding of not only how to build a case but also how to break it"
– Chambers USA 2007