Luke McFarland
Senior Counsel
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
Luke McFarland is a senior counsel in the antitrust and competition group whose practice focuses on assisting clients with obtaining competition approvals for complex M&A transactions from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), state Attorneys General, and competition authorities in jurisdictions around the world. Luke has helped clients obtained merger clearance for hundreds of transactions and has significant experience with Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act matters, including preparation of HSR filings, assisting in the coordination of foreign pre-merger filings and analyzing the reportability of transactions under the HSR Act. Luke also advises clients on responding to Second Requests and other inquiries related to obtaining pre-merger approval. He works with clients to assess the antitrust risk of proposed transactions and to develop strategies to reduce that risk. Luke also has experience counseling clients on a variety of antitrust law issues.
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, cum laude, Georgetown Law, 2012
BS, Political Science, Truman State University, 2000
While in law school, Luke was the Senior Articles Editor of Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and made the Dean's List from 2011 - 2012
- District of Columbia Bar
- Missouri State Bar
- Assisted a leading consumer products company obtain unconditional approval from the DOJ for its acquisition of a potential competitor after defending a Second Request without needing to fully comply
- Helped lead a team for the antitrust defense of an engineering solutions company’s US$3.3b acquisition of a competitor's hydraulics business. The 21-month clearance process included merger investigations conducted by the DOJ, European Commission, and competition authorities in seven other countries around the world, and the successful negotiation of several complex settlements that involved divestitures of manufacturing plants and parts of certain product lines and models owned by both parties.
- Assisted a leader in the dealer-to-dealer wholesale vehicle industry, on all antitrust aspects of its acquisitions of an online wholesale vehicle platform
- Defended through Second Request DOJ investigation of a digital security firm by its competitor
- Defended DOJ investigation of the sale of an oilfield services company to a leading competitor
- Represented numerous hospitals throughout the US in acquisitions and divestitures of competing hospitals, successfully defending against FTC and state attorneys general investigations
- Defended through Second Request FTC investigation of international cement producer's acquisition of a competing producer's US cement plant and terminals, resulting in no enforcement action
- Defended DOJ investigation of the sale to a leading competitor of a paper goods company that manufactures and converts products for the food service industry
- Represented numerous clients seeking to obtain assets divested under FTC and DOJ consent orders
Ones to Watch - Antitrust, Best Lawyers, 2022-2024
Contributor, "Multistate Investigations and Litigation," ABA Section of Antitrust Law State Antitrust Enforcement Handbook (publication pending), 2015
- District of Columbia Bar Association
- American Bar Association