On September 4, 2019, Williams & Connolly’s client, CVS, obtained a significant victory before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where Judge Richard J. Leon, after holding a first-of-its-kind evidentiary hearing earlier this summer, entered final judgment approving CVS’s settlement with the Justice Department resolving the Department’s challenge to CVS’s $69 billion merger with Aetna.  In a 22-page opinion, Judge Leon unconditionally approved the proposed settlement between the Justice Department and CVS under the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (the “Tunney Act”), clearing the final roadblock to the CVS – Aetna merger.

CVS retained Williams & Connolly when it became clear that Judge Leon would be conducting a thorough review of the settlement and that a number of amici would be opposing it.  The case represents the first Tunney Act proceeding in which a court has heard live testimony, and it was followed closely by the antitrust bar.

Recognizing the significance of this win, the firm was named a “Legal Lion” by Law360 in its “Weekly Verdict: Legal Lions & Lambs.”

The Williams & Connolly team included Enu Mainigi, Craig Singer, Jonathan Pitt, Jane Chong, Benjamin Graham, and Alex Peerman.