Top Antitrust Lawyer Joshua Soven Joins Paul, Weiss in Washington, D.C.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced today that Joshua H. Soven has joined the firm as a partner in the Litigation Department, resident in Washington, D.C. A former senior government enforcement lawyer, Mr. Soven advises clients on a full range of antitrust matters, including antitrust investigations before the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), complex antitrust litigation and other competition issues.

“We are excited to welcome Josh, who is widely respected as one of the leading antitrust lawyers in the United States, to our partnership,” said Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp. “Josh’s decades of experience in successfully handling antitrust matters in strategic transactions and before various government agencies will be invaluable to our clients.”

“Now, more than ever, antitrust and merger control advice is an area of critical importance to our M&A clients. Josh is a star antitrust lawyer, and his arrival enhances our already very strong merger control capabilities,” said Corporate Department Chair Scott A. Barshay.

Mr. Soven has successfully secured antitrust clearance for numerous strategic mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other tie-ups in the face of intense reviews by the Justice Department and FTC. He represented Deutsche Telekom in connection with its subsidiary T-Mobile's successful merger with Sprint, selected by Global Competition Review as the “Competition Matter of the Year” in 2020. Mr. Soven also represented LinkedIn in its $26 billion sale to Microsoft; Marriott in its $13 billion acquisition of Starwood; Southern Power in its $8 billion acquisition of AGL Resources; and Grubhub in its $7.3 billion sale to Just Eat Takeaway.

“Josh is a preeminent antitrust lawyer whose background in both government enforcement and private practice places him among the elite in his field,” said Litigation Department Co-Chair Jessica S. Carey. “His addition bolsters our market-leading antitrust practice and will figure prominently for our clients navigating an increasingly fraught landscape.”

“I’ve long been aware of Paul, Weiss’s stellar litigation, M&A and antitrust practices and am excited by the opportunity to be part of the firm,” said Mr. Soven. “This is an exciting time to practice antitrust law, with robust enforcement across markets and industries, and I am looking forward to being on the front lines with my new colleagues.”

From 2007 to 2012, Mr. Soven was chief of the Litigation I Section of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division (now the Healthcare and Consumer Products Section), where he directed investigations and litigation challenges in the health insurance, consumer products, packaging, beer and dairy sectors. During his tenure, he directed some of the government’s largest merger reviews, including the inquiry into InBev’s $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. Mr. Soven also served as a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division's Networks and Technologies Section, where he directed investigations in the software, electronic payment systems and financial services fields. From 2004 to 2007, he was an Attorney Advisor to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras on antitrust enforcement and policy matters.

Mr. Soven served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert G. Doumar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He earned a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.