Alan D. Rutenberg

Alan D. Rutenberg is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Foley & Lardner LLP. He is a member and the former chair of the firm’s national Antitrust Practice and a member of its Litigation Department. 

In the antitrust area, Alan:

• Counsels clients on a variety of issues, including those arising in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, competitor collaborations, licensing and other intellectual property matters, pricing practices, and various distribution matters.
• Has advised clients in hundreds of mergers and acquisitions matters, ranging from multimillion-dollar to multibillion-dollar transactions. He is active in representing clients with regard to both domestic and international antitrust aspects of transactions.
• Regularly represents clients before the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice on mergers and acquisitions investigations. His experience involves managing every phase of the investigation, including coordinating premerger notification filings, developing white papers and presentations for agency submission, responding to agency "Second Requests," and negotiating to address agency concerns, including through consent decrees. He represents clients that are parties to agency investigations as well as third party complainants, and third parties subpoenaed by the government.
• Litigates matters, including class action defense and antitrust issues that arise in intellectual property litigation.
• Is active in counseling clients on reportability and compliance matters under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and international premerger notification regimes, and coordinating premerger notification obligations for cross-border transactions.
• Represents clients in criminal investigations by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and civil conduct investigations by the Federal Trade Commission and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.
• Provides compliance assistance, including preparing company policy manuals and providing training.

Alan has represented clients in a wide range of industries, including commercial and industrial products, health care, energy, insurance and financial services, funeral and cemetery services, automotive related products, consumer goods, printing, software, media, food, scrap recycling, electric motors and pharmaceuticals.

Alan was featured in “Halcyon Days Are Here Again, The Return of Antitrust to M&A, Best Practices of the Best Dealmakers,” published by The M&A Advisor and Merrill DataSite, 2014.

Selected Presentations

• Co-presenter, “Antitrust Update” for the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s Corporate Counseling Committee, February 24, 2020
• Instructor, M&A session, “Antitrust and Competition Laws: Foundations and New Developments,” International Law Institute Seminar, June 14, 2017
• Co-presenter, “Staying Competitive and Compliant in the EU: 2015 Key Developments on Competition Matters,” Foley & Lardner Webinar, January 28, 2016
• Co-presenter, ABA Antitrust Section Corporate Counsel Monthly Updates, October 2014
• Co-presenter, “Access to Capital: Managing the Antitrust Risks Associated With Mergers and Affiliations,” Foley & Lardner Webinar, August 15, 2013

Selected Publications

• Co-author, “Hart-Scott-Rodino Reporting Thresholds Adjust Downward for Just Second Time Ever,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, February 2, 2021
• Co-author, “M&A Antitrust Considerations” section of “Post-COVID M&A Transactions Guidebook,” Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business, October 8, 2020
• Co-author, “FTC and DOJ Issue Final Vertical Merger Guidelines,” Manufacturing Industry Advisor, Health Care Law Today, July 21, 2020
• Co-author, “Three Ways Antitrust Enforcement Has Changed Under Coronavirus, and One Way it Has Not,” Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business, March 26, 2020
• Co-author, “FTC and Pennsylvania AG Sue to Block Merger of Philadelphia Healthcare Systems,” Health Care Law Today, March 16, 2020
• Co-author, “Hart-Scott-Rodino Reporting Thresholds to Increase Once Again,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, January 29, 2020
• Co-author, “FTC and DOJ Issue Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines,” Manufacturing Industry Advisor, January 22, 2020
• Co-author, “Hart-Scott-Rodino Reporting Threshold Reaches $90 Million,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, March 4, 2019
• Co-author, “Hart-Scott-Rodino and Interlocking Directorates Thresholds Rise for 2018,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, January 30, 2018
• Co-author, “The General Counsel’s Cheat Sheet to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act,” The M&A Journal, August 2017
• Co-author, “EU Antitrust Continuity Potentially Threatened by Brexit,” Dashboard Insights, February 6, 2017
• Co-author, “2017 Antitrust Outlook – A Year of Uncertainty,” Dashboard Insights, February 2, 2017
• Co-author, “Hart-Scott-Rodino Threshold Crosses $80 Million Mark,” The National Law Review, January 27, 2017
• Co-author, “FTC Again Finds Success in High-Profile Hospital Merger Appeal,” The National Law Review, November 2, 2016
• Co-author, “FTC Finds Success in High-Profile Hospital Merger Appeal,” The National Law Review, September 29, 2016
• Co-author, “Judge Allows Advocate-NorthShore Merger to Proceed; FTC May Appeal,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, June 15, 2016
• Co-author, “Federal Judge Refuses FTC Request to Block Hershey/Pinnacle Deal; FTC to Appeal,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, May 11, 2016
• Co-author, “Annual Adjustments to Hart-Scott-Rodino and Interlocking Directorates Thresholds,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, January 28, 2016
• Co-author, “Clarity Put on Hold as FTAIA Conflict/Confusion Continues,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, June 22, 2015
• Co-author, “Takeaways From the FTC/DOJ Workshop on Health Care Competition,” Health Care Law Today, March 15, 2015
• Co-author, book chapter, “The Antitrust Laws and Big Data,” Big Data: A Business and Legal Guide, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014
• Co-author, “Commission Tightens Rules of Exemption Under the EU De Minimis Safe Harbor,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, August 6, 2014
• Co-author, “District Court Upholds FTC Hart-Scott-Rodino Rules for Pharmaceutical Patent Transfers,” PharmaPatents blog, June 26, 2014
• Co-author, “New FTC Rules for Exclusive Pharmaceutical Patent Licenses,” PharmaPatents blog, November 20, 2013
• Co-author, “Timely Merger Clearance Becomes Increasingly Problematic As Complex Rules and Procedures for Required Approvals Spread Around the World,” Bloomberg BNA: Antitrust & Trade Regulation Report™, August 23, 2013
• Co-author, “Fourth Circuit Hands FTC Win Against State Dental Board,” Bloomberg BNA: Antitrust & Trade Regulation Report™, June 28, 2013
• Co-author, “Supreme Court Game Changer: Rule of Reason Applies to ANDA Reverse Payment Settlements,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, June 19, 2013
• Co-author, “Supreme Court Issues Landmark Ruling in Hospital Merger Case on Scope of Action Immunity,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, February 20, 2013
• Co-author, “Inside FTC’s New Rules for Investigations,” Competition Law 360, November 9, 2012
• Co-author, “Understanding Recent Developments in Hospital Merger Enforcement,” Foley & Lardner LLP Legal News Alert: Antitrust, May 9, 2012

Education

Alan graduated from Transylvania University (B.A., summa cum laude, 1991) and Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1994). While at Harvard Law School, he was member of the best team in its Ames Moot Court Competition.

Memberships

He is a member of the American Bar Association's Section of Antitrust Law, contributed to its publication Antitrust Law Developments (7th ed. 2012) and previously served for a number of years (2003-2008) as co-editor-in-chief of its Mergers and Acquisitions Newsletter.