Jonathan S. Klarfeld
Partner
Jonathan S. Klarfeld is a veteran antitrust enforcer and practitioner who led many significant merger investigations and challenges during his 13 years at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition in Washington, D.C. Jonathan brings to Ropes & Gray clients a broad range of experience and knowledge about how antitrust reviews of transactions proceed, how consents are reached and how matters are litigated. Since joining Ropes & Gray in the summer of 2014, he has represented and counseled clients across a broad range of antitrust issues and government investigations.
A staff attorney with the FTC from 2000 to 2008, Jonathan was named counsel to the director in 2008, where he oversaw several merger and non-merger divisions within the FTC. In 2009, Jonathan was appointed a Deputy Assistant Director in the Mergers I Division. In that role, he managed all aspects of the antitrust enforcement division in case selection, oversight and enforcement recommendation development. He also oversaw and participated in investigational hearings and depositions, negotiated consent agreements and litigated matters across a wide range of industries. Jonathan has supervised and led milestone antitrust cases, including toward the end of his agency tenure, the commission’s enforcement actions in Omnicare/PharMerica and Nielsen/Arbitron and its investigation of Express Scripts/Medco.
During his time at the FTC, Jonathan was detailed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia where he served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, trying several cases and participating in all aspects of criminal prosecutions, including arraignments, plea negotiations, trials and oral arguments, witness preparations and sentencings.
Jonathan began his legal career in private practice as a litigation associate at Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt, Maynard & Kristol.
Experience
- Represented Baring Private Equity Asia on the sale of the global surgical business of Lumenis LTD. to Boston Scientific.
- Represented Bain Capital before the FTC in its $18 billion acquisition of Toshiba Memory Corporation from Toshiba Corporation in a Bain Capital-led consortium including Apple, Seagate Technology, Kingston Technology, Hoya, Dell Technologies and SK Hynix.
- Represented American Media, Inc. in its acquisition of Us Weekly from Wenner Media LLC before the Department of Justice. The transaction closed without a Second Request.
- Represented Emory Healthcare in its acquisition of Dekalb Medical before the FTC. The transaction closed without a Second Request.
- Represented Champion Enterprises Holdings, LLC in its acquisition of Skyline Corporation before the FTC. The transaction closed without a Second Request.
- Represented the proposed buyer of the assets to be divested from the Walgreens-Rite Aid transaction before the FTC.
- Represented TPG Capital, L.P. in its $4.2 billion acquisition of McAfee from Intel Corp.
- Represented the proposed buyer in the FTC investigation and subsequent litigation relating to the Staples-Office Depot transaction.
- Represented Pfizer before the FTC in its $17 billion acquisition of Hospira.
- Represented TPG Capital, L.P. before the FTC in its sale of Par Pharmaceuticals to Endo International plc.
- Represented Berkshire Partners before the DOJ in connection with the acquisition of Fibertech Networks by Berkshire’s portfolio company Light Tower Fiber Networks. The acquisition closed without a Second Request.
- Represented Key Food Stores Co-operative, Inc. before the FTC in its acquisition of 23 stores from The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), arising out of A&P’s bankruptcy proceeding.
- Represented a third party in the FTC’s investigation and litigated challenge of Steris Corporation’s $1.9 billion acquisition of Synergy Health plc.
- Represented Wright Medical Technology, Inc. before the FTC in connection with its $3.3 billion merger with Tornier N.V. The transaction closed with divestitures representing less than $15 million in revenue.
- Represented Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe and its portfolio company United Surgical Partners International (USPI) before the FTC relating to USPI’s combination with Tenet Healthcare. The transaction closed without a Second Request.
- Represented Medtronic before the FTC in its acquisition of California startup Twelve Inc.
- Represented HealthSouth Corp. in its acquisition of CareSouth Health System Inc., a private provider of home health services.
Publications
- Co-author, “Merger Control & FDI Outlook for 2023,” Bloomberg Law (February 2023)
- Quoted, “Could Ticketmaster and Live Nation Actually Get Broken Up?” The Street (December 16, 2022)
- Co-author, “How to Avert Unlawful Poaching Amid Rising Antitrust Risks,” Law360 (June 10, 2022)
- Co-author, “Ropes & Gray Discusses DOJ’s Plans for Indictments in No-Poach Investigations” Columbia University Law School “Blue Sky Blog” (January 30, 2018)
- Quoted, “FTC puts the brakes on Zillow/Trulia buyout,” Global Competition Review (September 4, 2014)
- Quoted, “Dollar General’s Family Dollar Push Said to Hang on Wal-Mart,” Bloomberg News (September 9, 2014)
- Quoted, "Dollar General new bid may not sway Family Dollar-sources," Reuters (September 5, 2014)
- Co-Author (with Richard H. Cunningham), “What’s Pull-Thru Doing in My Relevant Product Market? Proper (and Improper) Market Definition in FTC v. LabCorp,” Antitrust Health Care Chronicle, Vol. 25/No. 1 (October 2011)
Presentations
- Panelist, “Recent Developments in Health Care & Pharmaceuticals,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Committee (May 21, 2018)
- Panelist, “Generic Drug Pricing – Are Consolidation or Cartels to Blame,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Pricing Conduct Committee, (November 18, 2016)
- Panelist, “What's New in Health Care Antitrust: Multiregional Networks, Physician Acquisitions, and Vertical Theories of Harm,” The American Health Lawyers Association (March 2016)
- Speaker, “Conditional Pricing Arrangements Explored,” The Knowledge Group (January 2015)
- Panelist, “Better Decision Making Through Analysis of Litigation Risk,” GOAL’s Global Compliance & Risk Management Conference and Exhibition (November 2014)
- Panelist, “Blurred Lines: Intersection of Antitrust and Consumer Protection in Healthcare Markets,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Health Care and Pharmaceuticals, Advertising Disputes and Litigation, and Consumer Protection Committees (July 29, 2014)
- Panelist, “Future Forecasting in Potential Competition: Stormy Days or Clear Visibility,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law, The Mergers & Acquisitions Committee (February 4, 2014)
- Panelist, “Express Scripts-Medco: The FTC Decision and Analysis,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Health Care & Pharmaceuticals and Insurance & Financial Services Committees (May 30, 2012)
Education
- JD, cum laude, New York University School of Law, 1995; articles editor, Annual Survey of American Law
- AB (English and American Literature and Public Policy and American Institutions), magna cum laude, Brown University, 1992; Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions / Qualifications
Qualifications
- District of Columbia, 2015
- New York, 1997
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Awards
- Chambers USA (2020-2022)
- The Best Lawyers in America, Antitrust Law in District of Columbia, United States (2020-2023)
- Legal 500 (2016-2018)
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (2022)
- Super Lawyers (2020)
