Samer M. Musallam is a veteran antitrust enforcer who led major merger investigations across a range of industries as a former Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Samer’s practice focuses on antitrust merger advocacy in strategic and private equity transactions and also representing and counseling clients through all phases of litigation before the DOJ and FTC. Samer has represented clients in complex private litigation, price‑fixing class actions, merger clearances, monopolization lawsuits, dealer termination suits, and domestic and international antitrust investigations. His experiences cover a wide range of industries, including medical devices, banking, airlines, telecommunications, fintech, wireless baseband chips, mining and material handling equipment, industrial materials and the locomotive and railroad industries.
While at the Antitrust Division, Samer served as litigation and trial counsel in a number of the Antitrust Division’s most high-profile matters in the past decade. He recently served as lead trial counsel and first chair in the DOJ’s successful challenge to the merger of leading automotive aluminum autobody sheet suppliers in United States v. Novelis Inc. and Aleris Corp. That case was the first use of arbitration by the Antitrust Division to resolve a merger dispute.
Notably, Samer also served as trial counsel for the DOJ in opposing the proposed merger of two of the largest insurance companies in the United States in United States v. Aetna, Inc. and Humana Inc. The case resulted in verdict and judgment in the United States’ favor. In recognition of his achievements at the Antitrust Division, Samer was honored with numerous DOJ awards.
Prior to joining the Antitrust Division, Samer was in private practice as an antitrust lawyer in Washington, D.C., where he represented and counseled clients through all phases of litigation, merger review, and pricing and distribution practices before the DOJ and FTC.
Experience
Samer’s representative matters from his time at the DOJ Antitrust Division include:
- United States v. Novelis Inc. and Aleris Corp., as lead trial counsel of a 24-member team of attorneys, economists and paralegals in a successful challenge to the merger of leading automotive aluminum autobody sheet suppliers. The case was the first use of arbitration by the Antitrust Division to resolve a merger dispute.
- United States v. Parker‐Hannifin Corp. and Clarcol, Inc., as lead litigation counsel of a 15-member team of attorneys, economists and paralegals through investigation, litigation and successful settlement of consummated $4.3 billion merger in the aviation fuel filtration products market.
- Merger of BB&T Corp and SunTrust Bank, Inc., as lead attorney of the investigation into one of the largest bank mergers in U.S. history.
- United States v. AT&T, Inc. and Time Warner, Inc., as trial counsel in the challenge to one of the largest proposed mergers in telecommunications history.
- United States v. Aetna, Inc. and Humana Inc., as trial counsel responsible for preparing an expert witness for successful trial testimony in the proposed merger of two of the largest insurance companies in the United States. The case resulted in verdict and judgment in the United States’ favor.
- United States v. United Continental Holdings, Inc., et al., as litigation counsel in a challenge of an airline’s acquisition of takeoff and landing rights (slots) at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Other representative matters prior to joining DOJ include:
- United States of America v. U.S. Airways Group, et al. (D.D.C.). Represented a major air carrier in connection with the Department of Justice and State Attorneys General’s merger challenge. (Awarded Global Competition Review “Matter of the Year” Award, 2013).
- Samsung/Seagate. Supervised and led a team of attorneys and paralegals in representation of a Korean electronics manufacturer in the FTC’s review of the $1.4 billion sale of its hard disk drive business. (Awarded Global Competition Review “Matter of the Year” Award, 2012).
- American Airlines v. Sabre Corp. (Tarrant Cty., Tex.). Successfully represented a major air carrier in connection with prosecution of monopolization and illegal restraint of trade claims against a leading global distribution system for travel in multi-firm representation.