Elaine Johnston
Partner, Co-Head Antitrust
New York
Elaine Johnston
Partner, Co-Head Antitrust
New York
Contact Details
Elaine is the head of Allen & Overy LLP's U.S. antitrust practice and co-head of the global antitrust practice. She has handled matters in a wide range of industries, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, oil and gas, engineering, banking and financial services, agricultural products, and vitamins. She has been featured in Chambers USA, BTI Client Service All-Stars, PLC Which Lawyer?, The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers, and Global Competition Review's Women in Antitrust 2016.
Elaine has an active practice before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) representing merging parties in connection with mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as companies in non-merger investigations, and she is particularly experienced in coordinating U.S., European, and other foreign antitrust clearances on complex cross-border deals. Elaine also has an active antitrust litigation practice including representing the Belarusian Potash Company, Experian, Mercuria, and Saudi Aramco. In addition, she regularly advises companies on business conduct, including worldwide distribution and licensing arrangements, patent pools, information exchanges and benchmarking.
Elaine is a member of the American Bar Association (Antitrust section) and the New York State Bar Association (Vice-Chair, Antitrust Law section). She is also a former member of the editorial board of the ABA’s Competition Laws Outside the United States, a former associate editor of the Antitrust Law Journal, and a former member of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She is a frequent speaker at antitrust conferences and seminars.
Expertise
Practices
Sectors
Qualifications
Professional
Admitted: Bar of the State of New York, 1988
Admitted: United States District Courts
Southern District of New York, 1995
Eastern District of New York, 1995
Admitted: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2009
Academic
LL.M., University of Michigan Law School, Fulbright Scholar, 1987
M.A., Cambridge University, 1984
B.A. honors, Clare College Cambridge, 1980
News & insights
Publications: 07 APRIL 2021
Antitrust authorities stay tough in a difficult M&A market
Antitrust authorities remained highly active in 2020, despite the pandemic reducing overall global M&A, according to our latest annual survey of global merger control enforcement trends across 26…
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Publications: 26 MARCH 2021
Antitrust in focus - March 2021
This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business.
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Publications: 11 FEBRUARY 2021
Hart-Scott-Rodino filing thresholds decrease for the first time in over a decade in the U.S.
HSR filing thresholds decrease for the first time in over a decade – size-of-transaction threshold to be USD92.0 million
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Publications: 16 DECEMBER 2020
Biden election set to boost investor confidence
The election of Joe Biden is likely to usher in an era of more stable and predictable politics in the U.S., increasing the kind of investor confidence on which M&A transactions thrive.
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Expertise
Practices
Sectors
Qualifications
Professional
Admitted: Bar of the State of New York, 1988
Admitted: United States District Courts
Southern District of New York, 1995
Eastern District of New York, 1995
Admitted: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2009
Academic
LL.M., University of Michigan Law School, Fulbright Scholar, 1987
M.A., Cambridge University, 1984
B.A. honors, Clare College Cambridge, 1980
Recognition
Elaine Johnston is ‘a highly experienced lawyer who is always great to work with’ and is ‘absolutely excellent for merger work.
WHO’S WHO LEGAL COMPETITION 2020
Elaine is smart as a whip, commercial, practical, offers practical advice, and is very pleasant to work with.
Chambers USA 2020, Antitrust: New York
Elaine is a leading expert in antitrust law. She has made an effort to develop a thorough understanding of our business and provides practical, actionable advice.
Chambers USA 2020, Antitrust: New York
Peers and clients say, ‘She is a very capable competition specialist.
WHO’S WHO LEGAL COMPETITION 2020
Published work
- Co-author, 'Antitrust Aspects of Settling Intellectual Property Litigation,' Intellectual Property Antitrust 2006, published by the Practising Law Institute, 2006, republished in The Licensing Journal Volume 26 Number 8, September 2006, with Matthew J. Galvin.
- 'Antitrust Liability for Acts and Omissions in Dealing with Government Entities,' Intellectual Property Antitrust 2005, published by the Practising Law Institute, 2005.
- 'Intellectual Property as an 'Essential Facility,'' Intellectual Property Antitrust 2004, published by the Practising Law Institute, 2004, republished in The Computer & Internet Lawyer, February 2005.
- Co-author, 'Contrast or Convergence? The IP Guidelines and the New EU Technology Transfer Block Exemption,' Antitrust Magazine, Spring 1995, with Ronald W. Davis.
- 'Dual Representation in Antitrust Investigations,' Antitrust Law in New York State, published by the New York State Bar Association, 1995.
- Contributor, Bellamy & Child, Common Market Law of Competition, Fourth Edition (Sweet & Maxwell 1993); responsible for section on intellectual property licensing.
- Co-author, 'Antitrust Aspects of Reverse Engineering,' Intellectual Property Antitrust 1993, published by the Practising Law Institute, 1993, with David Bender.
