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Kevin Arquit

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Arquit, Kevin
Arquit, Kevin
Kevin Arquit
kevinarquit@quinnemanuel.com
Biography Recent News Practices Representations

Kevin Arquit is a Partner in Quinn Emanuel’s Washington, D.C. office and Co-Chair of the firm’s Antitrust & Competition practice.  Kevin joined the firm in 2024.  Kevin, who is a graduate of Cornell Law, is an eminent member of the antitrust bar and veteran of major law firms and high government positions.

Kevin has previously served as both general counsel for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and as director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. Prior to joining Quinn Emanuel, Kevin served as Chief Legal Officer at JBS USA. While there, he helped the company navigate and move on from the resolution of a putative pork price-fixing class action case as well as other antitrust matters, government inquiries into workplace safety conditions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and a wide array of other corporate and regulatory issues.

Kevin has been consistently ranked by both Chambers USA and Chambers Global as a leading lawyer in his field. The Legal 500 has considered him to be a leading practitioner in his field for over a decade. Law360 named him one of their “10 Most Admired Competition Attorneys” and he was featured in the Lawdragon 500: The Legends list in 2015 in recognition of his having been recognized by the publication as a “Leading Lawyer in America” for the prior 10 consecutive years. Benchmark Litigation has consistently recognized Kevin as a “Litigation Star” both nationally and in New York. Kevin was selected in 2010 as one of the “Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers” by the National Law Journal and Best Lawyers selected him as “Lawyer of the Year” in 2019 for “New York Litigation – Antitrust” and in 2017 for “New York Antitrust Law”. He was ranked as a “Thought Leader” for Competition by Who’s Who Legal from 2017-2019, and BTI previously named him to their list of “Client Service All-Star Team for Law Firms”.

In 2016 a Wall Street Journal article highlighting Arquit’s career described him as a “a big name in the antitrust world,” noting that he “has been on the front lines of helping companies secure government clearance of large deals,” including Sirius Satellite Radio in its merger with XM Radio, DirecTV in its sale to AT&T, and Lorillard Inc. in its sale to Reynolds American Inc.  

In the first proceeding of its kind, in 2020, the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, and parties to a proposed transaction, appointed Kevin to act as single party arbitrator to resolve a civil antitrust lawsuit between the parties. The binding arbitration, referred to by the Antitrust Division as “ground-breaking,” led to relief, which then allowed the merger to proceed.

Practice Areas

Notable Representations

(Prior Representations)

  • Priceline
  • Weyerhaeuser
  • Fidelity National Financial
  • Equitas
  • JBS
  • Pilgrim’s Pride
  • DoubleClick
  • PanAmSat
  • Rinker Group
  • Royal Ahold Supermarkets
  • DirecTV  

Education

  • Cornell Law School
    (J.D., cum laude, 1978)
  • St. Lawrence University  
    (B.A., cum laude, Political Science and Economics, 1975)

Admissions

  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals:
    • Second Circuit
    • Third Circuit   
    • Ninth Circuit
    • Eleventh Circuit
    • D.C. Circuit    
  • United States District Court:
    • Southern District of New York
    • Western District of New York
    • District of Columbia
    • District of Colorado
    • Northern District of California
  • The State Bar of New York
  • The District of Columbia Bar

Prior Associations

  • JBS USA
    • Chief Legal Officer, 2021-2024
  • Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
    • Partner, Co-Chair Antitrust Practice, 2019-2021
  • Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
    • Partner, Co-Chair Antitrust Practice, 2016-2019
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP
    • Partner, Chair of Antitrust Practice, 2002-2016
  • Clifford Chance LLP
    • Chair of Antitrust Practice, 1992-2002
  • Federal Trade Commission
    • Director, Bureau of Commission, 1988-1992
    • General Counsel, 1988-1989
    • Attorney Advisor to Chairman and Chief of Staff, 1986-1988
  • Harris Beach & Wilcox
    • Associate, 1982-1986
  • Fish & Neave
    • Associate, 1978-1982
  • Arter & Hadden
    • Associate, 1978-1978

Awards

  • Who’s Who Legal: Competition 2024
  • Legal 500 Leading Practitioner, 2014-2024
  • Who’s Who Legal, Thought Leader, 2017-2019
  • Best Lawyers, Lawyer of the Year, Antitrust, 2019
  • Best Lawyers, Lawyer of the Year, New York Litigation, 2017
  • Benchmark Litigation, Litigation Star, 2017
  • Law360, 10 Most Admired Competition Attorneys, 2015
  • BTI, Client Service All-Star Team for Law Firms, 2008, 2012
  • National Law Journal, Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers, 2010
  • Chambers Shield of Excellence for Antitrust, 2006
  • Chambers, Leading Lawyer, 2008-2016
  • Who’s Who Legal, Global Competition Lawyer of the Year, 2005

Publications and Lectures

Mentions

  • “Meatpacker JBS USA Hires New Chief Legal Officer,” Wall Street Journal (4/20/2021)
  • “White House eyes veteran antitrust lawyer for chief FTC post,” Politico (9/11/2020 )
  • “Justice Department Wins Changes to Aluminum Merger,” Wall Street Journal (3/9/2020)
  • “Prominent Antirust Lawyer to Join Weil Gotshal,” New York Times (12/6/2016)
    • “among the notable business competition lawyers in the country.”
  • “A Top Lawyer in Antitrust At Giant Firm Joins a Rival” New York Times (12/17/2002)

 

Publications/Lectures

  • Arquit, Kevin. “Views from the Bench – Mergers.” April 2022, American Bar Association. Presenter.
  • Arquit, Kevin. “Keynote Address, ILJ 2009 Symposium February 27, 2009,” Cornell International Law Journal: Vol. 43: Iss. 1, Article 1, 2010.
  • Arquit, Kevin J., and Charles E. Koob. "The consumer harm inquiry in recent cases: A required element of proof or an afterthought." Sedona Conf. J.. Vol. 5. 2004.
  • Arquit, Kevin J., and Arman Y. Oruc. "Predation Against 'Dangerous' Complements." The Sedona Conference Journal, vol. 4, 2003, pp. 21-27. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/sedona4&div=6&id=&page=
  • Arquit, Kevin J., and Richard Wolfram. "Mergers and Acquisitions: United States Government Antitrust Analysis and Enforcement." PLI Order No. B0-00Z6. May (2001): 10-11.
  • Arquit, Kevin J., and Richard Wolfram. "Federal Appeals Court Rules That US Criminal Antitrust Law Applied to Extraterritorial Conduct." Int'l Bus. LJ (1997): 703.
  • Arquit, The Boundaries of Horizontal Restraints: Facilitating Practices and Invitations to Collude, Antitrust Law Journal, Vol. 61, 1993
  • Abrams, L. N., Cantor, A. I., Areeda, P., Arquit, K. J., Pitofsky, R., Sohn, M. N., & Whalley, J. Dealer/Franchisee Collaboration: Questions and Answers...... 425. ANTITRUST LAW JOURNAL, 61, 1992-93.
  • Arquit, Kevin J. "Further Thoughts on the 1992 US Government Horizontal Merger Guidelines." prepared remarks before the State Bar of Texas, Dallas (1992).
  • Arquit, Kevin J., et al. "Panel Discussion/Q&A." Antitrust Law Journal 61.1 (1992): 175-184.
  • Arquit, Kevin J. “Perspectives On The 1992 U.S. Government Horizontal Merger Guidelines.” Antitrust Law Journal, vol. 61, no. 1, 1992, pp. 121–38. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40841503.
  • Arquit, Kevin J. "The boundaries of horizontal restraints: facilitating practices and invitations to collude." Antitrust LJ 61 (1992): 531.
  • Arquit, K. J., & Kattan, J. (1991). Efficiency Considerations and Horizontal Restraints. The Antitrust Bulletin, 36(4), 717-732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003603X9103600401
  • Arquit, Kevin J. "Market power in vertical cases." Antitrust LJ 60 (1991): 921.
  • Arquit, Kevin J. "Resale Price Maintenance: Consumers' Friend or Foe." Antitrust LJ 60 (1991): 447.
  • Kevin J. Arquit and Yao, Dennis A., "Applying the 1992 horizontal merger guidelines." Antitrust 6 (1991): 17.
  • Arquit, Kevin J. "FTC Enforcement of Section 2 of the Sherman Act." Antitrust Law Journal 59.2 (1990): 547-552.
  • Arquit, Kevin J. "Patent Abuse and the Antitrust Laws." Antitrust LJ 59 (1990): 739.
  • Pasahow, L. H., Arquit, K. J., Koelemay, J. M., Rosen, N. E., Farkas, L. P., Lee, W. M., & Rule, C. F. (1990). Patent-Antitrust: Dead Or Alive? Questions and Answers. Antitrust Law Journal, 59(3), 755-760.

 

Appearances

  • CNBC. (2019, September 11). FTC Amazon merchant interviews show Robust Investigation: Antitrust pro. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ne1xMVdtJM
  • CNBC. (2019, July 25). Doj won’t hesitate to take action against Big Tech, says attorney Kevin Arquit. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/07/24/doj-wont-hesitate-to-take-action-again-big-tech-former-ftc-employee.html
  • Bloomberg. (2019, May 23). Qualcomm will pull out all the stops to fight FTC ruling. https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/video/qualcomm-pull-stops-fight-ftc-135519475.html
  • Bloomberg. (2019, May 21). DOJ, FCC Split Over Sprint, T-Mobile Deal. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-05-21/doj-fcc-split-over-spring-t-mobile-deal-video
  • Bloomberg. (2019, March 12). Warren’s Call For Tech Breakup “Anti-Consumer,” Arquit Says (Video). https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-03-12/warren-s-call-for-tech-breakup-anti-consumer-arquit-says-video
  • AP Archive. (1998, May 6). USA: Microsoft chairman Bill Gates windows 98 press conference. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deyOD2AHD-I
  • C-SPAN. (2003, May 8). Satellite Service and Video Distribution. https://www.c-span.org/video/?176530-1%2Fsatellite-service-video-distribution
  • Cable News Network. (2000, June 12). Moneyline News Hour - Techs Tumble on Concerns About Corporate Profits; Red-Hot Corning Shares Soar to Record High; DOJ Charges Ahead Against Visa and MasterCard. CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/12/mlld.00.html
  • C-SPAN. (1998, October 24). Microsoft Antitrust Case. https://www.c-span.org/video/?113872-1%2Fmicrosoft-antitrust-case
  • PBS. (1998, May 14). Microsoft Antitrust Investigation. https://charlierose.com/videos/29256
  • PBS. (1998, May 14). Microsoft Antitrust Investigation; Richard Branson; William Baker. https://charlierose.com/videos/21627
  • PBS. (1997, October 21). Microsoft Antitrust Suit; Stansfield Turner.  https://charlierose.com/videos/21766
  • PBS. (1997, October 21). Microsoft Antitrust Suit. https://charlierose.com/videos/3488
  • C-SPAN. (1995, February 15). Baseball Strike. https://www.c-span.org/video/?63376-1/baseball-strike
  • C-SPAN. (1993, October 27). Telecommunication issues. https://www.c-span.org/video/?51869-1%2Ftelecommunication-issues

Professional Activities

  • Board of Trustees, United States Ski and Snowboard Foundation
  • Vice Chair and Board Member, USA Nordic Sports