George Cary

George S. Cary has decades of experience in sophisticated antitrust matters, representing companies on industry-transforming transactions and complex monopolization litigation.

He regularly guides clients through global mergers and acquisitions involving the most challenging regions and issues, and his diverse litigation docket features cases involving the application of antitrust to intellectual property and high-technology markets. Chambers and Partners has ranked George in its top tier of global antitrust lawyers every year for the last decade and Benchmark Litigation named him Antitrust Lawyer of the Year for three consecutive years (2016-2018).

Before joining the firm in 1998, George served as Deputy Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition (FTC), where he oversaw a record number of merger transactions. He was lead trial counsel for the FTC in its successful challenge of the Staples/Office Depot merger, considered the most significant merger case of the decade, and he was the recipient of the Brandeis Award, awarded to the FTC’s outstanding litigator. Prior to joining the FTC, George was an antitrust and litigation partner in a Los Angeles-based law firm.

EXPERIENCE:

Merger Clearance Highlights

• The Dow Chemical Company in numerous transactions, including its $130 billion all-stock merger of equals with DuPont, one of the largest and most complex international antitrust transactions ever completed.
• 21st Century Fox in The Walt Disney Company’s announced $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox after the spin-off of certain businesses.

Antitrust Litigation Highlights

• Sanofi US in defeating a multibillion-dollar monopolization case by a competitor challenging Sanofi’s loyalty discounts program.
• Keurig Green Mountain in monopolization litigation brought by competitors and purported class action plaintiffs, including successfully defending against a preliminary injunction seeking to block the launch of Keurig’s 2.0 coffee brewer – a decision that was subsequently upheld by the Second Circuit.

ACTIVITIES:

• International Trade Advisory Commissioner, U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative
• Member, California Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission (responsible for evaluating all nominees to the California state trial and appellate courts)

EDUCATION:

• University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, J.D., 1976
• University of California, Santa Cruz, A.B., 1973

BAR ADMISSIONS:

• California
• District of Columbia