Chris Wilson is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  He is a member of the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice Group.

Mr. Wilson assists clients in navigating DOJ and FTC investigations and private party litigation involving complex antitrust and consumer protection issues, including matters implicating the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, the FTC Act, and the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) merger review process.  His experience crosses multiple industries, including health insurance, transportation, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, and biotechnology, and his particular areas of focus include vertical merger enforcement, interlocking directorates, joint ventures, and employee “no-poach” agreements.  He is also well-versed in cross-border investigations, having worked cooperatively with antitrust enforcement authorities in the European Union, Canada, and Brazil during his time at the Department of Justice.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Wilson was a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.  During his tenure, Mr. Wilson played a prominent role in numerous high profile matters, and he received the Antitrust Division’s Award of Distinction on two separate occasions. Before joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Wilson was an associate in Gibson Dunn’s Dallas office.  He is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, and holds a B.A. in Economics from New York University.  He is also a member of the Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Committee of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law.

Mr. Wilson is admitted to practice in California, Texas, and the District of Columbia.

Representative Matters

• Lead antitrust counsel for Spark Therapeutics, Inc. in connection with its $4.8 billion acquisition by Roche Holding AG, which was unconditionally cleared by the FTC in 2019
• Lead antitrust counsel for BioScrip, Inc. in its merger with Option Care, which was unconditionally cleared by the FTC in 2019
• Lead antitrust counsel for Visa Inc. in connection with its acquisition of Verifi, which was investigated and unconditionally cleared by DOJ in 2019
• AT&T in its $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV, which was cleared by the DOJ and FCC subject to an FCC consent order
• Lead antitrust counsel for offshore drilling rig supplier Ensco in its $2.4 billion merger with rival Rowan, which was investigated and unconditionally cleared by the DOJ in 2018
• Tenet Healthcare in its proposed acquisition of Emmanuel Medical Center, a hospital in California’s Central Valley, which the FTC cleared unconditionally following a second request investigation
• Lead counsel for Bazaarvoice Inc. in connection with DOJ investigation of compliance with final judgment in prior merger antitrust suit

Professional Activities and Publications

Mr. Wilson currently serves as an Editor of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Health Care Chronicle and as an editor of Antitrust Laws & Trade Regulation: Desk Edition (published by LexisNexis).  He also regularly contributes to antitrust newsletters and publications.

His representative publications and speaking engagements include:

• Chris Wilson, The Debate Over Institutional Investor Ownership of Competing Firms, The Exchange (December 2019)
• Lillian Okamuro, Chris Wilson (Editor), Non-Price Effects Analysis in Healthcare Merger Litigation, The Antitrust Health Care Chronicle (December 2019)
• Duk-Ki Moon, Chris Wilson (Editor), Market Definition for Innovative Pharmaceuticals: How Far Should We Go?, The Antitrust Health Care Chronicle
• Bill Batchelor, George Zacharodimos, Chris Wilson (Editor), Antitrust Healthcare Chronicle Enforcer Series: An Interview with Ann Pope, Senior Director, Competition & Markets Authority, The Antitrust Health Care Chronicle
• M. Sean Royall, Richard H. Cunningham, Chris Wilson, Chris Kopp, Updated Vertical Merger Guidelines May Be on the Horizon, Washington Legal Foundation Legal Pulse
• Eric Mahr, Chris Wilson, Enforcer Insights: An Interview with Eric Mahr, Former Antitrust Division Director of Litigation, The Antitrust Health Care Chronicle
• Chris Wilson, Key Takeaways from the Dominance Divergence Task Force, Monopoly Matters (Spring 2019)
• Moderator, “Fundamentals of Intellectual Property for Antitrust Lawyers,” ABA Webcast (April 2019)