Stephen Weissman, a recent former Deputy Director for the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, is global co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice Group based in Washington, D.C. A former top antitrust enforcer and accomplished defense lawyer, Mr. Weissman brings exceptional experience and a practical approach to representing companies in antitrust investigations by the FTC and U.S. Department of Justice and high-stakes antitrust litigations. He also counsels clients in criminal antitrust investigations. Chambers USA  describes him as “a fantastic lawyer” and a “tour de force.” Who’s Who Legal – Competition (2022) identifies him as a “super star in the market who works on some of the most challenging” matters.

While serving as FTC Deputy Director from 2013-2015, Mr. Weissman was involved in and supervised all of the agency’s merger and non-merger investigations and litigations, spanning a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals and other healthcare segments, digital and high-tech markets, the defense industry, consumer products, energy, and chemicals. Mr. Weissman served as lead trial counsel in the FTC’s successful challenge to the $3.5 Billion acquisition by Sysco Corp. of U.S. Foods, Inc., a matter widely considered to be the most important merger litigation in a decade.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Weissman co-chaired the Antitrust and Competition practice at another global law firm, where he served as one of the lead lawyers in a number of headline and high-stakes antitrust cases. In 2016, National Law Journal  named Mr. Weissman an “Antitrust Trailblazer” and Global Competition Review  named him as a finalist for both its “Lawyer of the Year” and “Litigator of the Year” awards.

He has tried a number of cases including both bench and jury trials, argued appeals in multiple U.S. Courts of Appeal, and litigated claims under the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and Robinson-Patman Act, as well as breach of contract and business tort claims.

Mr. Weissman is regularly recognized as a leading antitrust practitioner by national legal ranking publications, including Chambers USA (2016-2022), Legal 500 (2013, 2015-2022), Best Lawyers in America (2020-2024), Who’s Who Legal Competition (2022-2024) and Litigation (2017-2022), Super Lawyers (2018-2022), Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers (2012, 2013, 2018-2022), and Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (2023 and 2024).

Representative matters include*

• Represented Broadcom in the FTC’s investigation of the company’s business practices, which resulted in closing of several investigations and settlement of a narrow set of allegations.
• Represented Celgene in the FTC’s conditional approval of its $74 billion acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Represented Boehringer Ingelheim in the FTC’s in-depth review of its $12.5 billion global asset swap with Sanofi
• Represented Whirlpool in the Department of Justice’s in-depth review of its acquisition of Maytag Corp.
• Lead counsel for Novartis’ Sandoz division in the In re Humira Antitrust Litigation putative class action, including before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed dismissal of the complaint
• Lead counsel for Merck & Co., Inc. in In re Nexium Antitrust Litigation (D. Mass)
• Lead counsel for Hartford HealthCare and its affiliates in private antitrust litigation brought by a competitor and in a separate antitrust action brought by a putative class of consumers
• Lead trial counsel for the FTC in the agency’s successful challenge to Sysco’s proposed $3.5 billion acquisition of US Foods
• Represented DaVita, Inc. in the FTC’s review of its joint venture with Medtronic, Inc. and of DaVita’s acquisition of University of Utah’s dialysis business
• Represented General Electric in its acquisition of BK Medical, Inc..
• Successfully defended Arch Coal in a challenge by the Federal Trade Commission to the company’s acquisition of Triton (D.D.C.), and then in defending Arch’s proposed joint venture with Peabody Energy (E.D. Mo.)
• Successfully defended Anheuser-Busch, Inc. in its merger with InBev, including defeating a private lawsuit to enjoin the merger (E.D. Mo.)
• Represented PepsiCo and its Frito-Lay business in FTC’s review of its acquisition of Popcorners from BFY Brands
• Represented QVC Corp. in its acquisition of Home Shopping Network (HSN)
• Represented Indorama Ventures Ltd. in a number of transactions, including FTC approval of its joint venture with other PET resin manufacturers and its acquisition of Huntsman’s specialty chemical business
• Represented Schering Plough in its merger with Merck & Co., Inc.
• Retained by Halliburton Co. to defend in litigation the company’s proposed acquisition of Baker Hughes, Inc.

*****Includes matters handled prior to joining Gibson Dunn

Mr. Weissman received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and earned a BA in Economics from Tufts University. He is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the District of Maryland, District of Columbia and the Eastern District of Virginia.