Michael Jahnke

Expertise Experience Highlights Career History

Partner

Competition & Antitrust

+1-917-246-7481 +1-646 437-6826

Expertise

A practicing attorney for over 35 years, including as a partner and practice leader at several top global and domestic law firms. Michael has developed a reputation rarely achieved within the antitrust bar, based on broad experience over several decades in complex antitrust matters. This includes managing antitrust and consumer protection risks arising in M&A transactions and other business contracts and drafting and negotiating high value contracts, alongside years of antitrust and other commercial litigation, honing skills in discovery, advocacy, and civil and appellate practice and procedure.

His practice entails advice on (a) transactions including Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) filings and exemptions, due diligence/information sharing issues, board-level presentations, financing, deal structure and shareholder/customer communication strategies, (b) litigation, including trials and litigation management, (c) joint ventures, including advice to thirteen of the world’s largest financial institutions on technology-driven new product platforms, (d) pricing/bidding arrangements and other horizontal restraints, (e) IP licensing and enforcement, (f) internal compliance, (g) exclusive dealing and other vertical restraints, and (h) civil and criminal antitrust and consumer protection investigations.

His HSR expertise is frequently referred to international clients by competition practitioners at other global firms without a US presence, including several active matters involving respected European and Canadian firms, demonstrating his global reputation.

While directing clients’ compliance with antitrust regulations and governmental requests, Michael has also advocated multiple times before the FTC, DOJ, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Reserve Board, and is well respected before those agencies. His transactional experience also includes large-scale M&A and complex joint venture transactions that generated major “second request” investigations by the FTC and DOJ, on which he led dozens of team members on document reviews and productions and advocated before the agencies. While coordinating the preservation, gathering, review and production of several thousand to several million pages of documents on wide ranging investigations and litigations, Michael developed ample experience on records management and e-discovery issues, including the latest approaches to “technology assisted review” / predictive coding.

Michael’s expertise is of particularly high value given the power shift in Washington, as there can be no serious doubt that democratic control of the executive and legislative branches has led to a significant increase in antitrust enforcement. This has already evidenced itself in merger challenges and proposals for significant new antitrust legislation, portending a need for sophisticated advice on business combinations or initiatives suggesting any prospect of interest by federal, state or foreign enforcers. Private party enforcement remains significant as well, as aggrieved “consumers” (including sophisticated Fortune 500 companies purchasing goods or services as part of their supply chain) potentially affected by business conduct find it profitable to institute claims for treble damages, and competitors find it worthwhile to ensure their voice is heard via litigation or behind the scenes cooperation with regulators.

Before joining gunnercooke, Michael was an antitrust practice leader at major firms like Allen & Overy, Thompson Hine, and Loeb & Loeb. He managed growth initiatives that substantially expanded those practice groups to teams of up to 25 lawyers, entailing significant roles in budgeting, hiring, performance reviews and reporting.

Other prior experience includes top notch firms like Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (4 years as Senior Attorney) and Shearman & Sterling (8 years as an associate and senior associate).

Experience Highlights

  • Representing the UK’s #1 cigarette maker in its $1.9 billion acquisition of the fourth largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States.
  • Representing 13 financial institutions, including six of the top ten U.S. bank holding companies, on antitrust issues.
  • Representing a major European pharmaceutical company in connection with an agreement to transfer to another pharmaceutical company certain rights to market a significant product in the Americas, valued at nearly $1 billion.
  • Representing the third-largest independent owner of LNG carriers and the leading Japanese independent power producer in their $1.4 billion acquisition of a global ocean carrier’s LNG shipping fleet.
  • Representing a private equity firm in the acquisition of a portfolio company’s major competitor, securing expedited closing without an extended agency investigation through effective and efficient advocacy during the regulatory “waiting period.”
  • Representing a Vermont electric utility in its $702 million merger with a Canadian natural gas distribution company.
  • Representing a leading international tobacco company in its $22.7 billion acquisition of a U.S. cigar manufacturer.
  • Representing a leading international manufacturer of bearings, with approximately 180 locations across 50 countries, in its takeover of one of the top five automotive suppliers worldwide.
  • Representing a UK-based banking and insurance company in its $10.5 billion acquisition by a UK-based global financial services group with more than 30 million customers.
  • Representing one of the world’s largest beer brewing companies, operating more than 140 breweries in over 70 countries, in its acquisition of a UK-based beer brewer.
  • Representing one of the largest global staffing and employment services agencies, with almost 4,200 locations in more than 40 countries, in its $5.5 billion acquisition of a Netherlands-based international staffing services company
  • Representing one of Europe’s leading private equity investors and one of the largest investment trusts on London’s stock exchange in its sale of an international provider of air and sea freight services to a global supplier of transport and logistics solutions.
  • Representing a leading international supplier of office products in its takeover by the world’s largest office products company and second-largest internet retailer.
  • Representing one of Europe’s leading private equity investors and one of the largest investment trusts on London’s stock exchange in its sale of an international provider of air and sea freight services to a global supplier of transport and logistics solutions.

Career History

Previous Law firms

  • Arent Fox (2022-2024)
  • Thompson Hine LLP (2013-2022)
  • Loeb & Loeb LLP (2011-2013)
  • Howrey LLP (2009-2011)
  • Allen & Overy (2002-2009)
  • Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (1998-2002)
  • Shearman & Sterling LLP (1990-1998)
  • Kutak Rock (1986-1990)

Memberships/Honors/Awards

  •  Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Antitrust Law, 2018-2023
  • American Bar Association, Antitrust Section and International Law Section, 1994-present
  • New York State Bar Association, Executive Committee, Antitrust Section, 2011-present
  • New York City Bar Association, Antitrust and Trade Regulation Committee, 2008-2011
  • Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, listed in New York Antitrust, 2009-2012 (not pursued in subsequent years)
  • Partners’ Group, Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of New York, 2013-present

 Qualifications

  • Admitted, United States Supreme Court 2011
  • Admitted: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2011
  • Admitted: Bar of the State of New York 1989
  • Admitted: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 1988
  • Admitted: Bar of the State of Nebraska 1986
  • Admitted: United States District Courts, S.D.N.Y., E.D.N.Y., D. Neb. 1989, 1993, 1986
  • J.D., Creighton University School of Law, magna cum laude 1986
  •  B.A., Huron College, summa cum laude 1982

Expertise

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A practicing attorney for over 35 years, including as a partner and practice leader at several top global and domestic law firms. Michael has developed a reputation rarely achieved within the antitrust bar, based on broad experience over several decades in complex antitrust matters. This includes managing antitrust and consumer protection risks arising in M&A transactions and other business contracts and drafting and negotiating high value contracts, alongside years of antitrust and other commercial litigation, honing skills in discovery, advocacy, and civil and appellate practice and procedure.

His practice entails advice on (a) transactions including Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) filings and exemptions, due diligence/information sharing issues, board-level presentations, financing, deal structure and shareholder/customer communication strategies, (b) litigation, including trials and litigation management, (c) joint ventures, including advice to thirteen of the world’s largest financial institutions on technology-driven new product platforms, (d) pricing/bidding arrangements and other horizontal restraints, (e) IP licensing and enforcement, (f) internal compliance, (g) exclusive dealing and other vertical restraints, and (h) civil and criminal antitrust and consumer protection investigations.

His HSR expertise is frequently referred to international clients by competition practitioners at other global firms without a US presence, including several active matters involving respected European and Canadian firms, demonstrating his global reputation.

While directing clients’ compliance with antitrust regulations and governmental requests, Michael has also advocated multiple times before the FTC, DOJ, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Reserve Board, and is well respected before those agencies. His transactional experience also includes large-scale M&A and complex joint venture transactions that generated major “second request” investigations by the FTC and DOJ, on which he led dozens of team members on document reviews and productions and advocated before the agencies. While coordinating the preservation, gathering, review and production of several thousand to several million pages of documents on wide ranging investigations and litigations, Michael developed ample experience on records management and e-discovery issues, including the latest approaches to “technology assisted review” / predictive coding.

Michael’s expertise is of particularly high value given the power shift in Washington, as there can be no serious doubt that democratic control of the executive and legislative branches has led to a significant increase in antitrust enforcement. This has already evidenced itself in merger challenges and proposals for significant new antitrust legislation, portending a need for sophisticated advice on business combinations or initiatives suggesting any prospect of interest by federal, state or foreign enforcers. Private party enforcement remains significant as well, as aggrieved “consumers” (including sophisticated Fortune 500 companies purchasing goods or services as part of their supply chain) potentially affected by business conduct find it profitable to institute claims for treble damages, and competitors find it worthwhile to ensure their voice is heard via litigation or behind the scenes cooperation with regulators.

Before joining gunnercooke, Michael was an antitrust practice leader at major firms like Allen & Overy, Thompson Hine, and Loeb & Loeb. He managed growth initiatives that substantially expanded those practice groups to teams of up to 25 lawyers, entailing significant roles in budgeting, hiring, performance reviews and reporting.

Other prior experience includes top notch firms like Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (4 years as Senior Attorney) and Shearman & Sterling (8 years as an associate and senior associate).

Experience Highlights

Back to top
  • Representing the UK’s #1 cigarette maker in its $1.9 billion acquisition of the fourth largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States.
  • Representing 13 financial institutions, including six of the top ten U.S. bank holding companies, on antitrust issues.
  • Representing a major European pharmaceutical company in connection with an agreement to transfer to another pharmaceutical company certain rights to market a significant product in the Americas, valued at nearly $1 billion.
  • Representing the third-largest independent owner of LNG carriers and the leading Japanese independent power producer in their $1.4 billion acquisition of a global ocean carrier’s LNG shipping fleet.
  • Representing a private equity firm in the acquisition of a portfolio company’s major competitor, securing expedited closing without an extended agency investigation through effective and efficient advocacy during the regulatory “waiting period.”
  • Representing a Vermont electric utility in its $702 million merger with a Canadian natural gas distribution company.
  • Representing a leading international tobacco company in its $22.7 billion acquisition of a U.S. cigar manufacturer.
  • Representing a leading international manufacturer of bearings, with approximately 180 locations across 50 countries, in its takeover of one of the top five automotive suppliers worldwide.
  • Representing a UK-based banking and insurance company in its $10.5 billion acquisition by a UK-based global financial services group with more than 30 million customers.
  • Representing one of the world’s largest beer brewing companies, operating more than 140 breweries in over 70 countries, in its acquisition of a UK-based beer brewer.
  • Representing one of the largest global staffing and employment services agencies, with almost 4,200 locations in more than 40 countries, in its $5.5 billion acquisition of a Netherlands-based international staffing services company
  • Representing one of Europe’s leading private equity investors and one of the largest investment trusts on London’s stock exchange in its sale of an international provider of air and sea freight services to a global supplier of transport and logistics solutions.
  • Representing a leading international supplier of office products in its takeover by the world’s largest office products company and second-largest internet retailer.
  • Representing one of Europe’s leading private equity investors and one of the largest investment trusts on London’s stock exchange in its sale of an international provider of air and sea freight services to a global supplier of transport and logistics solutions.

Career History

Back to top

Previous Law firms

  • Arent Fox (2022-2024)
  • Thompson Hine LLP (2013-2022)
  • Loeb & Loeb LLP (2011-2013)
  • Howrey LLP (2009-2011)
  • Allen & Overy (2002-2009)
  • Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (1998-2002)
  • Shearman & Sterling LLP (1990-1998)
  • Kutak Rock (1986-1990)

Memberships/Honors/Awards

  •  Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Antitrust Law, 2018-2023
  • American Bar Association, Antitrust Section and International Law Section, 1994-present
  • New York State Bar Association, Executive Committee, Antitrust Section, 2011-present
  • New York City Bar Association, Antitrust and Trade Regulation Committee, 2008-2011
  • Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, listed in New York Antitrust, 2009-2012 (not pursued in subsequent years)
  • Partners’ Group, Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of New York, 2013-present

 Qualifications

  • Admitted, United States Supreme Court 2011
  • Admitted: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2011
  • Admitted: Bar of the State of New York 1989
  • Admitted: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 1988
  • Admitted: Bar of the State of Nebraska 1986
  • Admitted: United States District Courts, S.D.N.Y., E.D.N.Y., D. Neb. 1989, 1993, 1986
  • J.D., Creighton University School of Law, magna cum laude 1986
  •  B.A., Huron College, summa cum laude 1982