Jonathan B. Pitt is Co-Chair of Williams & Connolly’s Antitrust practice group. He handles a wide variety of complex civil and criminal trial and appellate matters involving the antitrust laws, the federal securities laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Lanham Act, and RICO. Among other notable representations, Mr. Pitt serves as counsel to Amazon in the antitrust cases brought against it by the FTC, the California AG, and private plaintiffs, and successfully represented Google in connection with the FTC’s highly publicized investigation into online search and search advertising. He also served as trial counsel to CVS in the evidentiary proceedings in U.S. District Court resolving CVS’s acquisition of Aetna, and currently serves as trial counsel to both acquiring firms and acquisition targets in multiple litigated mergers. Mr. Pitt served as trial counsel to a pharmaceutical manufacturer in connection with the first class action antitrust trial involving “pay-for-delay” claims after the Supreme Court’s decision in FTC v. Actavis (resulting in a complete defense verdict), and has successfully defended corporations and individuals against criminal and civil “no poach” allegations. Mr. Pitt regularly advises clients on antitrust issues and has served as antitrust counsel to major trade associations on issues such as standard-setting and denials of membership. Mr. Pitt has been recognized numerous times as a leading antitrust litigator. Born in Washington, D.C., Mr. Pitt grew up there and in the Maryland suburb of North Potomac. He received both his B.A., magna cum laude, in 1994 and his Master of Government Administration in 1999 from the University of Pennsylvania. After college, Mr. Pitt joined the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Planning and Policy and was Assistant Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning under Mayor Ed Rendell before leaving in 1997 for Yale Law School, where Mr. Pitt received his J.D., and was Notes Editor, Yale Law Journal, and Articles Editor, Yale Law and Policy Review. Mr. Pitt joined Williams & Connolly in 2001 after serving as law clerk to Chief Judge Ralph K. Winter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Pitt is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he has been teaching antitrust law since 2005, and has served on the Yale Law School Association Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Studio Theater in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Studio Acting Conservatory and is its immediate past Chair. He is proficient in Spanish. Representative Experience
- Representing Amazon in a number of public and confidential matters, including a major antitrust suit brought by the California AG, and several private, treble-damages price-fixing lawsuits
- Representing CVS in multiple antitrust lawsuits in federal and state court in New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Tampa, and San Antonio alleging an illegal tie of pharmacy services to 340B administrator services
- Representing a biotechnology company in an antitrust lawsuit alleging generic blocking, before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Representing a major technology firm in a criminal antitrust investigation into alleged “no-poach” arrangements
- Representing the University of Notre Dame in class action antitrust litigation alleging that more than a dozen top private universities conspired to limit financial aid
- Represented a company in a nonpublic DOJ price-fixing/output-restraint investigation
- Represented CVS and Aetna in connection with their merger in the first-ever Tunney Act evidentiary hearing, before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Represented pharmaceutical manufacturer in antitrust class action involving claims “pay-for-delay” claims; case resulted in defense verdict
- Represented tech company in FTC investigation related to alleged internet search practices; FTC closed investigation without enforcement action
- Represented multinational media company in FCPA investigation relating to alleged conduct in Europe; government issued declination letter
- Represented former New York Stock Exchange Chairman and CEO in civil action brought by New York Attorney General challenging reasonableness of compensation; case resulted in dismissal of all claims
- Represented multinational media company in civil litigation regarding “phone hacking” controversy involving UK tabloids; case resulted in dismissal of all claims
- Represented dairy cooperative in multiple antitrust class actions involving monopoly, monopsony, and price-fixing claims
- Represented major motion picture studio and major technology firm in two class actions alleging "no-poach" agreements
- Served as antitrust counsel to several major trade associations
- Represented manufacturers in antitrust case alleging group boycott of dealer
Recognitions"Litigation Star," Benchmark Litigation, 2022-2025 “500 Leading Litigators in America,” Lawdragon, 2023-2025 "Future Star," Benchmark Litigation, 2020-2021 "Legal Lion," Law360, January 2019 Professional ExperienceAdjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, since 2005, teaching Antitrust Law |
|