Amanda Wait
Head of Antitrust, United States
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Related services and key industries
Key industry sectors
- Life sciences and healthcare
- Energy, infrastructure and resources
- Consumer markets
- Transport
- Technology
Biography
Amanda Wait, a former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawyer advises deal makers and litigants and combines her in-depth knowledge of antitrust agency practice with a business-focused approach to getting deals done. Clients have praised her to Chambers USA for "advising the client, addressing issues and melding business objectives with legal realities."
A thought leader on antitrust topics, Amanda is regularly sought after by major media outlets such as Law360, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, National Public Radio, and Associated Press to provide analysis of significant mergers and antitrust developments.
Amanda founded and leads the Women in Economics Initiative at the University of Cincinnati, which provides scholarships, mentorships, and professional growth opportunities for women economics students.
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, William & Mary Law School, Associate Articles Editor, William & Mary Law Review, Articles Editor, Environmental Law & Policy Review, 2004
BA, University of Cincinnati, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 2000
- District of Columbia Bar
- United States v. U.S. Sugar, et al., (D. Del., 2022). Served as trial counsel to Louis Dreyfus Company in connection with the DOJ's challenge of the sale of Imperial Sugar Company's Port Wentworth refinery to U.S. Sugar; Imperial and U.S. Sugar obtained a complete win at the district court enabling successful completion of the acquisition.
- Select healthcare experience:
- Successfully advised a major health system in connection with its strategic combination in review by the Federal Trade Commission; after considering potential horizontal overlap, cross-market theories, and labor market impacts, the FTC closed its investigation without action.
- United States v. UnitedHealthGroup, (D.D.C., 2022). Represented a health technology company as a non-party witness in the DOJ's investigation and litigation challenge of the proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare by United's Optum subsidiary. Successfully advocated to remove client from trial witness list and prevented all client documents from becoming public trial exhibits.
- In the Matter of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, (F.T.C., 2020). Counsel to Methodist Le Bonheur in connection with the FTC investigation and litigation of its proposed acquisition of a Memphis hospital from Tenet Healthcare.
- Obtained antitrust clearance after FTC investigation for a strategic laboratory outsourcing arrangement for a major Texas hospital system.
- Select energy experience:
- Advised a major US energy company in connection with a vertical acquisition that received a Second Request from the Federal Trade Commission.
- United States v. Duke Energy Corporation, (D.D.C., 2017). Negotiated consent decree on behalf of Duke Energy Corporation after DOJ investigation into alleged premature exercise of control (aka "gun jumping") raising novel theories of antitrust violations under the HSR Act.
- Advised a major energy company before the FTC in multiple strategic refining divestiture transactions. Obtained early termination of the HSR waiting period in each to enable client to move forward with extensive integration process relating to the sale.
- Advised a major energy company in multiple FTC investigations, including into Par Petroleum Corporation's proposed acquisition of Mid-Pac Petroleum.
- Select retail and consumer products experience:
- Developed and led the global merger clearance strategy for a transportation industry manufacturer in connection with a strategic, multi-billion Euro transaction; by anticipating the likely questions, the client obtained clearance during the initial review periods in all reviewing jurisdictions.
- Developed and led strategy to obtain merger clearance in four jurisdictions for a global packaging company in a strategic transaction valued in excess of US$1 billion. The deal cleared in all reviewing jurisdictions after initial advocacy without issuance of Second Request (or equivalent in foreign jurisdictions).
- Successfully obtained premerger clearance for an international retailer's strategic acquisition to expand product offerings into adjacent product and service areas in a deal valued in excess of $500 million.
- In the Matter of Lone Star Fund V (U.S.), L.P., (F.T.C., 2014). On behalf of one of the world's largest retail supermarket chains, negotiated a settlement with the FTC for strategic divestitures in order to obtain clearance after a Second Request.
- In the Matter of Service Corporation International, (F.T.C., 2013). Advised a leading provider of funeral and cemetery services in its US$1.4 billion strategic merger being reviewed by the FTC and several state attorneys general. The reviewing agencies cleared the transaction with divestitures after a Second Request.
- Advised Universal Music Group in its US$1.9 billion acquisition of the recorded music business of EMI Music. After a Second Request and an extensive investigation, the FTC voted 5-0 to close its investigation without requiring divestitures or other remedies.
- Kingston Technologies v. Sandisk (W.D. Wis., 2011). Trial counsel to Kingston in patent infringement case; case went to full trial on the merits on antitrust counterclaims.
- Served as counsel to Delta Air Lines before the DOJ in its successful acquisition of Northwest Airlines. Following a Second Request and extensive investigation, the DOJ closed its investigation without requiring any divestitures or other remedies.
- Federal Trade Commission v. Whole Foods, D.D.C. (2008). Trial counsel to the FTC, in the FTC's challenge to the proposed merger of Whole Foods and Wild Oats.
- Chambers USA, District of Columbia: Antitrust, Chambers and Partners, 2019 – 2023
- The Best Lawyers in America, Antitrust Law, Best Lawyers, 2021-2024
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, Lawdragon, Inc., 2022 - 2024
- Legal 500 US, Recommended, Civil litigation/class actions: defense, The Legal 500, 2022 - 2023
- 2021 Women in Antitrust, Global Competition Review, 2021
- Named to "40 Under 40 Hot List," Benchmark Litigation, 2021
- Washington, DC Rising Star, Antitrust Litigation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Thomson Reuters, 2014 – 2021
- Legal 500 US, Recommended, Antitrust - Merger control, The Legal 500, 2020
- Recognized as Most Highly Regarded for Competition Law, Who's Who Legal, Law Business Research, Ltd, 2020
- PACEsetter Award, Carl H. Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, 2017
- Official Commendation for Meritorious Service, Federal Trade Commission, November 2007
- Co-author with Andrew Roth, Purvi Maniar and Leslie Roter Rebnord, "New York State enacts notice requirements for material health care transactions," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, May 10, 2023
- Co-author with Carsten Reichel and Andrew Eklund, "FTC's Criminal Liaison Unit Enhances Merger Risks - Law360," Law360, May 1, 2023
- Co-author with Abraham Chang, " Would Proposed FTC Noncompete Ban Apply To Nonprofits?," Law360, March 3, 2023
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, "US merger enforcement is … down? Lessons from the FY2021 HSR Annual Report," Washington Legal Foundation, February 10, 2023
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Gerald Stein, Vic Domen and Andrew Eklund, "US FTC announces 2023 HSR thresholds," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, January 24, 2023
- Co-author with Carsten Reichel and Abraham Chang, "US FTC proposes ban on non-compete clauses," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, January 5, 2023
- Co-author with Chris Hersh, "Wide-ranging updates to Canadian Competition Act: What businesses need to know," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, November 30, 2022
- Co-author with Timothy Chung, "Antitrust Road Map To Vertical Integration Of Latest Car Tech," Law360, September 7, 2022
- Author, "Hospital mergers under the FTC's antitrust radar," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, August 16, 2022
- Co-author with Antonia Mordino, "New FTC Commissioner's Potential Impact on Healthcare Antitrust Review," Competition Policy International, May 31, 2022
- Co-author with Vic Domen, "HSR Statistics Show Increasing Scrutiny Of Health Care M&A," Law360, May 24, 2022
- Co-author with Mark Angland, "Data privacy expert confirmed to Federal Trade Commission," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, May 11, 2022
- Co-author with Leslie Roter Rebnord, "Data On Biden's Tough Antitrust Stance Paints Subtler Picture," Law360, February 1, 2022
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein,Domen, Gerald Stein and Andrew Eklund, "FTC announces 2022 HSR Thresholds," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, January 24, 2022
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Ian Giles, Jay Modrall, Marta Giner Asins and Richard Wagner, "Working group to update pharmaceutical merger review in the US, Canada, UK and Europe," Concurrences 2022 Antitrust Writing Awards, January 14, 2022
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund and Mark Angland, "FTC announces nearly US$2M in fines for failure to comply with the HSR Act," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, December 28, 2021
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Vic Domen and Leslie Roter Rebnord, "US Senate confirms Biden's antitrust head nominee," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, November 16, 2021
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, "The Changes We're Seeing in Biden-Era Merger Review," Law360, November 1, 2021
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, Vic Domen and Gerald Stein, "FTC announces changes to merger investigations," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, September 29, 2021
- Co-author with Mark Angland and Andrea D'Ambra, "Biden nominates privacy professor for FTC Commissioner," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, September 17, 2021
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, "FTC announces major change to HSR treatment of debt, casts doubt on validity of informal interpretations," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, September 2, 2021
- Co-author with Gerald Stein, Vic Domen and Luke Schamel, "US Sixth Circuit vacates decision requiring hospital system to deal with rival," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, August 25, 2021
- Co-author with Vic Domen and Leslie Roter Rebnord, "Jonathan Kanter nominated as AAG for US DOJ Antitrust Division," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, August 2, 2021
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Vic Domen, Gerald A. Stein and Andrew Eklund, "Senate Confirms Lina Khan as FTC Commissioner," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, June 15, 2021
- Co-author with Gerald Stein and Andrew Eklund, "US Department of Justice requires divestitures in bank merger," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, June 4, 2021
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Vic Domen, Gerald A. Stein and Andrew Eklund, "Economist with healthcare and pharmaceutical background to lead FTC's Bureau of Economics," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, April 15, 2021
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Ian Giles, Jay Modrall and Marta Giner Asins, "Working group to update pharmaceutical merger review in the US, Canada, UK and Europe," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, March 2021
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Daniel Wellington, Vic Domen, Gerald Stein and Andrew Eklund, "FTC announces decreased HSR thresholds for 2021," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, February 2, 2021
- Co-author with Abraham Chang, "US DOJ and FTC issue vertical merger guidelines," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, October 12, 2020
- Co-author with Abigail Schwarz, "Competitive edge in merger control and FDI: everything you need to know to stay ahead," International Law Office, September 24, 2020
- Co-author with Lisa Shapira and Ward Atterbury, "How Minority Shareholders can Limit FTC Antitrust Scrutiny," Law360, June 3, 2020
- Co-author with Gerald Stein and Vic Domen, "Government contractors beware: Implications of the DOJ's new Procurement Collusion Strike Force," The Antitrust Source, June 19, 2020
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, "Proposed COVID-19 legislation would pause merger activity," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, May 6, 2020
- Co-author with Stacey Murphy, "US antitrust agencies COVID-19 response: Requests for health and safety cooperation," American Health Law Association, March 25, 2020
- Co-author with Abraham Chang, "US antitrust agencies COVID-19 response: Merger reviews," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, March 23, 2020
- Co-author with Robin Adelstein, Gerald Stein, Vic Domen, Andrew Eklund and Abraham Chang, "FTC and DOJ release 2020 Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines for public comment," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, January 29, 2020
- Co-author with Gerald Stein and Andrew Eklund, "Merger Review Takeaways From New Hart-Scott-Rodino Data," Law360, October 4, 2019
- Co-author with Gerald Stein, "Concessions by Sprint and T-Mobile Drive FCC Approval but May Not Satisfy Enforcers | National Law Journal," The National Law Journal, May 31, 2019
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, "Assistant attorney general suggests expanding scope of antitrust enforcement - Commentary - Lexology," International Law Office, May 23, 2019
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, "Strategies to avoid lengthy pre-merger reviews - Commentary - Lexology," International Law Office, April 11, 2019
- Co-author with Andrew Eklund, "Nothing to See Here, Clearing the Deal in the Initial HSR Waiting Period," Concurrences The Antitrust Source, February 2019
Amanda has been widely quoted in the press including:
- Quoted, "Big Deals Being Chilled by Biden's Aggressive Antitrust Agenda," Bloomberg Law, May 10, 2023
- Quoted, "US Antitrust Enforcers Are Chilling Big Mergers," Bloomberg Law, May 10, 2023
- Quoted, "FTC's non-compete ban could apply to nonprofits, former staffers say" Modern Healthcare, May 8, 2023
- Quoted, "FTC Must Avoid 'Whack-a-Mole' to Make Its Noncompete Ban Stick," Bloomberg Law, January 9, 2023
- Quoted, "Noncompete Ban Tees Up 1st Test Of FTC's Rule Powers," Law360 January 6, 2023
- Quoted, "Norton Rose Names New Antitrust Head," Law360, June 15, 2022
- Quoted, "Wall Street Has Jitters Over ICE-Black Knight Antitrust Concerns," Bloomberg Law, May 13, 2022
- Quoted, "Interview with Amanda Wait," The SACcast, December 3, 2021
- Quoted, "Women in Antitrust," Global Competition Review, September 24, 2021
- Quoted, "Huge win for progressives as Lina Khan takes helm at FTC," POLITICO, June 15, 2021
- Quoted, "Khan: FTC playing catch-up on tech," Global Competition Review, April 22, 2021
- Quoted, "Amanda Wait, '00, creates pipeline of opportunity for women in economics," UC Linder College of Business Portfolio Magazine, March 29, 2021
- Quoted, "U.S. Aims to Check Real-Estate Data Giant CoStar's Expansion in Multifamily," Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2020
- Quoted, "Hollis Salzman, 1965-2020," Global Competition Review, October 13, 2020
- Quoted, "Parenting during a pandemic: Slaughter's testimony sheds light on 'real' challenges," FTC Watch, August 24, 2020
- Quoted, "The Biggest Telecom Developments Of 2020: Midyear Report," Law360, July 21, 2020
- Quoted, "FTC Submits Comment Supporting Telehealth Provisions in CMS Interim Final Rule," Health Law Pulse, June 8, 2020
- Quoted, "Virus set to extend already growing merger times," Law360, May 22, 2020
- Quoted, "Why So Serious: Federal and State Enforcers Appetite for the Healthcare Sector," LS&H, May 14, 2020
- Quoted, "Antitrust agencies spark debate for letting competitors team up in Covid-19 fight," FTC Watch, April 13, 2020
- Quoted, "Int'l Antitrust Enforcers Balance Cooperation, Crackdowns," Law360, April 1, 2020
- Quoted, "U.S. Antitrust Agencies' COVID-19 Response: Requests for Health and Safety Cooperation," American Health Law Association, March 26, 2020
- Quoted, "For US Merger Enforcers It's Business As (Almost) Usual," Law360, March 23, 2020
- Quoted, "For DOJ And FTC, Clearing Deals Remains A Gray Area," Law360, March 20, 2020
- Quoted, "UPDATED: ABA cancels in-person antitrust spring meeting," Global Competition Review, March 13, 2020
- Profiled in "Making It Rain: Amanda Wait," ABA Women Rainmakers, Law Practice Today, November 14, 2019
- Quoted, "DOJ Dusts Off Arbitration Option For Mergers After 20 Years," Law360, September 16, 2019
- Quoted, "Aleris/Novelis: DOJ, Companies' Agreement to Arbitrate Product Market Definition May Signal Future Arbitration in Antitrust Enforcement," Reorg M&A, September 9, 2019
- Quoted, "State AGs In Dicey Waters With Sprint-T-Mobile Challenge," Law360, June 19, 2019
- Quoted, "AGs' Sprint-T-Mobile Challenge Tests States' Influence," Law360, June 14, 2019
- Quoted, "States sue to stop $26.5 billion Sprint-T-Mobile deal," Associated Press, June 11, 2019
- Commentary and analysis, "T-Mobile-Sprint merger would create a path for Boost Mobile to become fourth national carrier over time," MLex, June 6, 2019
- Profiled in "Ten Things About Antitrust Attorney Amanda Wait," ABA Section of Antitrust Law, June 2021
- Quoted, "Concessions by Sprint and T-Mobile Drive FCC Approval but May Not Satisfy Enforcers," The National Law Journal, May 31, 2019
- Quoted, "T-Mobile Under Pressure to Sweeten Sprint Package for DOJ Nod," BNN Bloomberg, May 21, 2019
- Quoted, "FCC chairman backs T-Mobile-Sprint deal in key endorsement," Associated Press, The Washington Post, Wired, The Star (Canada), May 20, 2019
- Quoted, "FCC chairman's support of T-Mobile-Sprint puts pressure on DOJ, state AGs," MLex, May 20, 2019
- Quoted, "Delrahim: 5G about consumer benefits, not creating winners," Global Competition Review, April 30, 2019
- Quoted, "2 Fixes The DOJ Could Demand From Sprint-T-Mobile," Law360, April 17, 2019
- Quoted, "Year in preview: pull-and-refile increases in Europe," Global Competition Review, January 17, 2019
- Quoted, "FTC commissioner: no staff for second requests," Global Competition Review, January 14, 2019
- Quoted, "Norton Rose Fulbright Adds Leading Hunton Antitrust Lawyer," The National Law Journal, January 9, 2019
- Quoted, "Norton Rose Scores Ex-FTC Atty From Hunton Andrews," Law360, January 9, 2019
- Quoted, "Norton Rose snags Wait," Global Competition Review, January 9, 2019
- Quoted, "Antitrust partner joins Norton Rose Fulbright in Washington, DC," GlobeNewswire, January 8, 2019
- Panelist, Antitrust leadership, Georgetown Law Center, March 20, 2023
- Moderator, Competitive edge - Quick take: FTC's proposed ban on non-competes," Norton Rose Fulbright global Competitive edge webinar series, January 23, 2023
- Moderator, Competitive edge - Quick take: Canadian Competition Act Updates, Norton Rose Fulbright global Competitive edge webinar series, October 26, 2022
- Speaker, Competitive edge - Quick take: EU/CMA consultations on cooperative agreements, Norton Rose Fulbright global Competitive edge webinar series, August 5, 2021
- Speaker, Competitive edge - Quick take: Implications of the new EU Commission's new merger control policy, Norton Rose Fulbright global Competitive edge webinar series, May 5, 2021
- Speaker, Competitive edge - Quick take: US elections impacts on antitrust, Norton Rose Fulbright global Competitive edge webinar series, November 9, 2020
- Speaker, Competitive edge – Episode 1: Merger Control and Foreign Direct Investment, Norton Rose Fulbright global Competitive edge webinar series, June 1 2020
- Panelist, ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Spring Meeting, online, May 1, 2020
- Speaker, Around the world in 60 minutes: agency response to COVID-19, Global antitrust webinar, April 8, 2020
- Speaker, Breaking news: Five things you need to know about the new Vertical Merger Guidelines, Norton Rose Fulbright webinar, January 28, 2020
- Speaker, William & Mary Law School 8th Leadership Conference, Williamsburg, VA, September 27, 2019
- Speaker, Sprint/T-Mobile: What's next for the state Attorneys General?, Jeffries Speaker Series, June 2019
- Keynote speaker, Real World Economics, Department of Economics Awards Banquet, University of Cincinnati, April 2019
- Panelist, Information Exchange Counselling in the Digital Age, American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Spring Meeting, March 2019
- Trustee, University of Cincinnati Foundation (2019-present; currently Vice-Chair, Finance & Risk Committee)
- Trustee, Kautz-Uible Economics Institute, University of Cincinnati (2016-present; founded Women in Economics Initiative)
- Section Leadership, Section of Antitrust Law, American Bar Association, 2007 - Present (various positions; currently serve as Chair, Section Influence Task Force)
- Member of the MLex Advisory Board, 2018-2020
- Co-Founder, The Grapevine (former organization that was the first networking group for women competition and consumer protection professionals in the Washington, DC, area)
Insights
DOJ and FTC remain focused on competition in healthcare industry
Publication | November 03, 2023
Competitive edge: Quick take | Updates to merger guidelines
Webinar | August 01, 2023
US FTC and DOJ announce new merger guidelines
Publication | July 19, 2023