Laura Wilkinson is an antitrust partner in the Washington, DC office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges with a practice focusing on mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Wilkinson has successfully obtained merger clearance from the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department for clients in a variety of industries, as well as serving as lead antitrust counsel for numerous multi-billion dollar transactions. Representative transactions include: Kinder Morgan’s acquisition of El Paso; ExxonMobil’s acquisition of XTO Energy; Johnson & Johnson’s acquisitions of Micrus Endovascular and SterilMed; Micron Technology’s acquisition of Numonyx; Vulcan Materials’ acquisition of Florida Rock; Sherwin-Williams’ acquisitions of Duron and Comex; and the management-led buyout of Kinder Morgan.
Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Wilkinson served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Federal Trade Commission, where she oversaw one of the Bureau of Competition’s litigation divisions and was responsible for merger enforcement in various industries including defense and pharmaceuticals. She was also responsible for negotiating numerous consent orders, which preserved competition while allowing the mergers to proceed.
Ms. Wilkinson’s tenure with the Federal Trade Commission was marked by numerous awards, including the Paul Rand Dixon Award for developing innovative antitrust theories and arguments; the Outstanding Team Effort Award for her roles as lead attorney in the FTC’s successful challenge of two high-profile acquisitions; and the Distinguished Service Award. She has written extensively on antitrust issues, and received a 2008 Burton Award for excellence in legal writing. Ms. Wilkinson has been recognized by Super Lawyers for antitrust in Washington, DC since 2011.
Ms. Wilkinson is an active member of the American Bar Association, where she was co-chair of the Antitrust Section’s FTC Committee, the District of Columbia Bar, where she was chair of the Antitrust and Consumer Law Section, and the National Bar Association. She has taught antitrust law as an adjunct professor at Howard University School of Law.
Ms. Wilkinson received her law degree and a Masters in Business Administration from Cornell University. She is active in various civic organizations, including Legal Momentum – the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, Cornell University Board of Trustees, President’s Council of Cornell Women, Cornell Law School Advisory Council, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and AKA Educational Advancement Foundation.