Senior DOJ Antitrust Official Rejoins Paul, Weiss

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced today that Andrew C. Finch has rejoined the firm from the United States Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, where he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General (April 2017 – August 2019) and as Acting Assistant Attorney General (April – September 2017). Mr. Finch returns as Co-Chair of the Antitrust Practice Group, resident in the New York office. He will advise corporations, boards of directors and other clients on high-stakes civil and criminal government investigations, complex civil litigation and mergers and acquisitions.

“Andrew was a key player in setting and executing on the DOJ’s current antitrust policies and priorities,” said Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp. “He is the highest-ranking lawyer from the current Antitrust Division to return to private practice, and we are thrilled that Andrew is returning‎ to Paul, Weiss.”

At the Antitrust Division, Mr. Finch oversaw dozens of merger reviews; supervised multiple investigations and litigations; negotiated civil and criminal settlements; and represented the Division in meetings with other federal agencies, members of Congress, state attorneys general and foreign competition authorities. He also played a leadership role in developing and implementing the Antitrust Division's policies and priorities, including the consideration of effective antitrust compliance programs in criminal enforcement decisions. Mr. Finch has spoken extensively about evolving antitrust issues related to “big data” and technology platforms, acquisitions of nascent competitors, and the application of antitrust law to IP disputes and standard-development organizations.

“I was privileged to serve in the Antitrust Division during an important and dynamic period,” said Mr. Finch. “All the while, I watched as Paul, Weiss continued to deepen its reputation as the nation’s go-to law firm for bet-the-company litigations and government investigations, and I look forward to enhancing the firm's antitrust capabilities and contributing to the firm’s success.”

Mr. Finch was a counsel and later a partner at Paul, Weiss from 2005 to 2017, where he represented several of the firm’s most significant clients in civil and criminal government investigations, complex civil litigation, merger analysis and counseling, including in the financial services and payment networks, insurance, manufacturing, steel production, performing rights, petroleum refining, publishing, retailing, shipping and air transportation industries.

From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Finch served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. While at the DOJ, he participated in drafting the joint report of the DOJ and FTC, Antitrust Enforcement and Intellectual Property Rights: Promoting Innovation and Competition, and contributed to the Report of the DOJ’s Task Force on Intellectual Property.

Mr. Finch graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1997, and clerked for the Honorable Dennis G. Jacobs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1997 to 1998.