Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR): A Practical Guide in Minimizing the Risk of Investigation and Punitive Damages in 2014

Scott Perlman, a Partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington, D.C. office, concentrates his practice on mergers and acquisitions and other transactional work, as well as on antitrust litigation and counseling. Scott has worked in the area of Hart-Scott-Rodino compliance and merger review for the past 25 years and has primary responsibility for the entire firm for counseling clients on HSR compliance issues.  He has worked on a variety of mergers involving the health care industry, including health insurance and hospital mergers, and the pharmaceutical, software, petrochemical, and oil and gas industries, among others.  Scott frequently counsels clients on antitrust compliance issues, and he has assisted numerous clients with preparation of compliance materials as well as organizing compliance programs for their employees.

He also has advised on joint ventures in the health care, agriculture, transportation, and entertainment industries, and has counseled business-to-business exchanges in the healthcare, chemicals, metals, and retail industries. Scott has extensive experience in antitrust litigation, including class actions, involving alleged price fixing, exclusive dealing and bundling claims, predatory pricing, and government investigations of pricing and marketing policies.  Scott also frequently writes and speaks on antitrust issues, including HSR. 

Ryan M. Decker is an associate in the Antitrust and Competition practice in the Paul Hastings Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Decker focuses his practice primarily on antitrust and trade regulation matters, including merger and acquisition approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, conduct and merger investigations before U.S. enforcement agencies, and state and federal civil litigation. He also advises clients on federal and state unfair competition and false advertising matters.

Mr. Decker received his J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law, magna cum laude, in 2009 where he served as Lead Articles Editor for the Washington and Lee Law Review. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University (magna cum laude; with Honors in Economics; Phi Beta Kappa) in 2006.

Mr. Decker is admitted to the bars of New York and the District of Columbia. He is a member of the American Bar Association and New York State Bar Association.

Michael Wise is an associate in the Litigation practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He focuses his practice on antitrust and competition issues.

Mr. Wise has represented clients seeking merger and acquisition approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in several key industries, including fashion apparel, information technology, computer hardware, energy, telecommunications, media, and mining. His experience includes the efficient and successful handling of multiple Second Requests, and he is familiar with a wide range of technology platforms, document review options, and management strategies that can expedite the compliance timeline and minimize costs. In international transactions, Mr. Wise has also successfully coordinated merger control filings for the European Commission and other foreign regulators to ensure consistency with respect to timing and substantive analysis.

Mr. Wise also has experience in antitrust litigation and related matters. For example, he has represented several companies in responding to Civil Investigative Demands from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. In addition, Mr. Wise has handled complex litigation arising under the Sherman Act and state unfair competition laws, including defending clients from class action claims and civil actions filed by the Department of Justice and state attorneys general.  Moreover, Mr. Wise has counseled clients on compliance issues in order to minimize risks of future litigation under the antitrust laws, including developing internal compliance policies and assisting with internal audits.