As Wilson Sonsini’s clients encounter regulatory hurdles involving the Federal Trade Commission, they often consult with our team of attorneys who have extensive experience advising companies on FTC-related matters. The team includes former high-level FTC officials, including as a Commissioner and Chairperson of the FTC during the First Trump Administration, deputy director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and associate director of the FTC’s Division of Privacy & Identity Protection.
Few firms can offer the depth of agency leadership and experience on both the antitrust and consumer protection sides of the FTC. Representing clients across every sector the FTC touches—including technology, life sciences, media, financial services, retail, grocery, transportation, and consumer products—our FTC experience spans multiple practice disciplines and regularly addresses recent regulatory trends:
- Antitrust: HSR merger clearance, civil non-merger investigations, and anticompetitive-practices defense M&A-related HSR merger clearance, civil non-merger investigations, and anticompetitive-practices defense
- Consumer regulatory and privacy: FTC investigations, enforcement actions, Section 6(b) inquiries, and rulemaking
- Advertising and marketing: False or deceptive advertising claims, including AI-related claim substantiation
- Litigation: Defense against FTC enforcement actions and related private litigation
Our regulatory and investigations practices have earned distinctions in legal premier rankings, including AmLaw’s “Antitrust Litigation Department of the Year;” twice named Law360’s “Privacy & Consumer Protection Group of the Year” as well as “Competition Group of the Year;” ranked by Chambers USA and Chambers Global in “Privacy & Data Security: The Elite,” and consistently recognized within the “Global Elite” by Lexology 100:Data and as one of the premier firms in Global Competition Review’s GCR100. “The firm has valuable expertise and connections with the various regulatory agencies,” one client told Chambers USA. Another added: “They demonstrated unparalleled expertise and outstanding knowledge of the process, with excellent skills in explaining it to clients.”
Antitrust
Merger Clearance
Wilson Sonsini has a proven record of helping clients obtain FTC clearance as they pursue M&A or other transactions requiring agency approval, with particular success obtaining favorable outcomes in connection with technology-related M&A transactions.
Our global office network across the U.S., the European Union, U.K. and China positions us to handle complex multi-jurisdictional mergers requiring coordinated FTC and foreign-agency review. Our attorneys communicate clearly, convincingly, and effectively with the FTC as to what is driving our clients’ M&A interests, as well as the relative marketplace impact, based on our thorough understanding of clients’ businesses, growth strategies, and markets.
We also represent third parties opposing mergers, giving clients a firm equally credible on offense and defense. We represented third-party complainants opposing Comcast’s proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Staples’ proposed acquisition of Office Depot, both abandoned following agency scrutiny, and the leading third-party complainant in the FTC’s investigation into IDT’s proposed acquisition of PLX, which the FTC sued to block.
Civil Non-Merger and Anticompetitive Practices
We defend clients against FTC allegations of anticompetitive conduct, including price fixing, market division, exclusive dealing, monopolization, predatory pricing, and product tying, as well as claims of patent or copyright misuse. We successfully defended VISX against FTC claims of unlawful monopolization, one of the few patent abuse cases the FTC has litigated through trial.
Consumer Regulatory and Privacy
The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection policies unfair or deceptive practices in privacy, identity protection, advertising, and telemarketing. Our team, which includes several former leadership of that bureau, helps clients stay ahead of it.
- Advisory Services. We advise on all aspects of U.S. and international privacy and data security laws, help clients build compliance programs and privacy policies, and counsel, and counsel on advertising, marketing, and anti-spam compliance.
- Investigations, Enforcement, and Litigation. We represent clients at every stage of an FTC inquiry, from the initial subpoena or civil investigative demand (CID) through resolution. We have a strong record of securing early closures, and where matters proceed, of narrowing exposure by removing defendants and defeating demands for monetary relief.
- Rulemaking. We advise clients on FTC rulemaking proceedings affecting their business, including proposed changes to rules governing subscription and negative-option marketing. We often draft advocacy comments to the FTC on clients’ behalf. For example, we have drafted comments on behalf of clients for proposed privacy, AI, and subscription practice rulemakings.
Advertising and Marketing
We represent B2B and B2C clients that rely on innovative, progressive advertising and marketing messages and methods to compete successfully in the marketplace. If the FTC questions the veracity of advertising or promotional claims used by our client, the firm works with the FTC to resolve the matter quickly and efficiently so the client can continue to conduct its business.
The firm’s experience includes addressing false or deceptive advertising claims involving performance specifications, product features, pricing, rebates, sweepstakes, and warranties, including claims arising from generative AI and other emerging marketing technologies. We work with the FTC to resolve advertising inquiries efficiently, and we review ad copy, marketing and promotional campaigns, and other advertising elements prior to publication to help clients avoid FTC scrutiny in the first place.
