John D. Carroll

John D. Carroll is a partner in the Antitrust & Competition Practice Group in the Washington, D.C. office and leads the firm’s Healthcare Antitrust Team.

Areas of Practice

John’s practice focuses on civil and criminal antitrust matters, including mergers & acquisitions, strategic counseling and compliance, and global cartel investigations, where he represents clients before the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Federal Trade Commission, and international and state antitrust enforcement authorities.

Prior to private practice, John was in the Mergers I Division of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition for several years. While with the FTC, he investigated, challenged, and negotiated settlements in a number of potentially anti-competitive business combinations in the aerospace, technology, consumer products, defense, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries and received an Award for Meritorious Service for work on merger litigation.

John frequently speaks and writes on antitrust issues. He was the lead editor on the American Bar Association, Section of Antitrust Law’s Energy Antitrust Handbook, and has held leadership positions in that organization.

Experience

John has substantial experience representing large public and private companies in a variety of industries, private equity firms, and healthcare companies in antitrust matters. Recent representative matters are described below.

Healthcare & Life Sciences

• Lead antitrust counsel for UC Irvine Health in their $975 million acquisition of Tenet Healthcare Corporation’s Pacific Coast Network, comprising four separate hospital campuses and ancillary facilities in the Orange County region, a transaction that closed in less than six months, in advance of regulatory deadlines and without enforcement action.
• Lead antitrust counsel for UCLA Health in their acquisition of HCA Healthcare’s West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, which closed simultaneously with UCI Health’s Tenet deal and without enforcement action.
• Lead antitrust counsel for VillageMD in achieving antitrust clearance for its $8.9 billion acquisition of Summit Health.
• Represented Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), a private investment firm, on antitrust matters, in connection with its strategic partnership with Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE: ELV).
• Currently advising health systems and physician groups on variety of antitrust issues, including network formation and potential transactions.
• Currently advising pharmaceutical and medical device companies on all aspects of competitor collaborations, including mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.

Energy

• Currently representing a Fortune 500 public company in the energy industry on antitrust aspects of a joint venture with a competitor
• Currently advising a number of energy companies on a range of antitrust issues related to pricing and distribution
• Successfully represented leading gasoline retailer on achieving FTC clearance for its strategic transaction
• Devised and implemented antitrust compliance strategies for coalitions of energy industry competitors

Consumer Products & Entertainment

• Represented Energizer Holdings, Inc. on antitrust aspects of it $2 billion acquisition of Spectrum Brands.
• Represented Carmike Cinemas in the Department of Justice investigation of their sale to AMC theatres, creating the nation’s largest movie theatre chain.
• Representation of Hanesbrands Inc. in antitrust aspects of its acquisition of Maidenform Brands, Inc., a leading consumer goods company.
• Represented Bass Pro Group in its successful defense of an FTC investigation of its acquisition of Fishing Holdings LLC, a manufacturer of fishing boats that include Ranger Boats and the Stratos and Triton boat brands.

Manufacturing

• Represented WestRock Company on antitrust aspects of its $4.9 billion acquisition of KapStone Paper & Packaging.
• Represented Forterra Building Products, a portfolio company of LoneStar Funds, in the formation of a joint venture with a competitor.

Technology & FinTech

• Represented Xerox Holdings Corporation in its unsolicited offer and proxy contest for HP Inc.
• Represented Total System Services on antitrust aspects of its $54 billion merger of equals with Global Payments.
• Advised leading technology companies on range of antitrust issues regarding investigations and transactions.

Global Cartel Investigations

• Defended multinational companies in criminal investigations alleging antitrust conspiracies.
• Represented an executive of international auto parts company in connection with a cartel investigation in that industry.

Honors

Top Author, JD Supra Readers' Choice Awards, 2025

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Best Lawyers, 2023-2024

Recommended Lawyers - Antitrust, Legal 500, 2022-2024

Leading Lawyer – Antitrust, Legal 500, 2020

GCR 100, 2018-2020

Rising Star – Antitrust, Washington Super Lawyers, 2016

Articles

Antitrust Law Blog

• "State Antitrust Enforcement Roundup: New Laws; New Potential Legislation; and New (and Broader) Areas of Focus," April 23, 2025
• "Major Regulatory Updates from the West Coast: New California and Washington Approaches to Healthcare Private Equity and MSO Regulation," February 28, 2025

• "Navigating the Matrix of State Healthcare Approvals," February 10, 2025
• "Looking Back and Looking Forward: Healthcare Antitrust in a New Administration: What Stays the Same and What Changes?," January 22, 2025
• "Thresholds for HSR Act Premerger Notifications and Interlocking Directorates Announced," January 13, 2025
• "Antitrust During Trump 2.0: It’s Complicated," December 5, 2024

• "The FTC Adopts New Premerger Notification Rules Implementing the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act," October 14, 2024

• "The Sequel?: Predicting Antitrust Enforcement in a New Trump Administration," September 23, 2024
• "Antitrust Under Biden: Taking a Closer Look at the Numbers," September 10, 2024

• "Election 2024 Coverage: Examining the Future of Healthcare and Antitrust," September 3, 2024
• "U.S. Federal Antitrust Agencies Announce Cooperation Initiative with Labor Agencies in Merger Review," August 29, 2024
• "Final Word on Final Rule? Texas District Court Eviscerates FTC’s Non-Compete Ban," August 21, 2024
• "Not So 'Final'? Texas Federal Court Enjoins Enforcement of FTC’s Noncompete Ban, Leaving Future of Commission’s Rule in Doubt," July 8, 2024

• "California Attorney General Advocates for Greater Antitrust Enforcement in Private Equity in Healthcare," June 11, 2024
• "New DOJ Health Care Task Force Portends Continued Aggressive Antitrust Enforcement," May 23, 2024
• "What the FTC’s Noncompete Ban Means for Healthcare," April 30, 2024
• "FTC Votes to Ban Noncompete Agreements," April 24, 2024

• "The FTC Hosts Workshop on Private Equity in Health Care," March 6, 2024
• "Higher Jurisdictional and Filing Fees Thresholds for HSR Act Premerger Notifications and Interlocking Directorates Announced," January 23, 2024

Books

Media Mentions

Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, "Understanding the Legal Landscape: Antitrust Considerations," 2024 WHLC Women in Healthcare Leadership Summit, October 24, 2024
• Panelist, "Antitrust Hot Topics: Spot the Antitrust Issues," American Health Law Association, October 27, 2021
• Panelist, "2020's Biggest Antitrust Developments and What to Expect in 2021," AHLA's Speaking of Health Law Podcast, February 1, 2021
• Moderator, “Recent Developments in Health Care & Pharmaceuticals," American Bar Association, Section of Antitrust Law, May 18, 2020 
• Panelist, "Federal Antitrust Enforcement of the FinTech Industry," Electronic Transactions Association, April 10, 2019
• Panelist, "Healthcare Antitrust Educational Call," American Health Lawyers Association, December 11, 2018
• Panelist, "Exclusionary Practices: An Overview," American Health Lawyers Association Annual Meeting, June 27, 2018
• Panelist, "Recent Developments in Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals," American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, January 24, 2018

Events

Memberships

ABA Antitrust Section, Vice-Chair of the Media & Technologies Committee (2021-2022, 2022-2023)

Digital Media