Global Competition Review has published a feature article titled, "Richard Parker's Long Game," highlighting Milbank LLP Litigation & Arbitration partner Richard Parker and the growth of the firm’s Antitrust practice. The article covers Mr. Parker’s six-decade career, his part in building some of the market's leading antitrust practices and the firm’s recent role representing the State of California, which spearheaded the 12-state coalition challenging the proposed $110 billion Paramount/Warner Bros. merger.
Building a Premier Antitrust Platform
The profile highlights the growth of Milbank's Antitrust practice in recent years. Adam Di Vincenzo, head of Milbank's Global Antitrust practice, joined from Gibson Dunn in 2022 to build out the firm's Washington, DC presence alongside Litigation & Arbitration partner Fiona Schaeffer in New York. Mr. Parker followed, along with Litigation & Arbitration partner Grant Bermann, who joined from the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division in 2023. In June 2024, the firm added Litigation & Arbitration partner James Weingarten, who served as FTC chief trial counsel. Special counsel Anastasia Pastan, Kelly Dodge Garcia (who joined from the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division) and Alexis Brown-Reilly have since joined the team as well, further deepening the firm’s bench of powerhouse antitrust practitioners.
As GCR notes, when California was looking for counsel, the state wanted a team that could litigate an extremely complex, multijurisdictional transaction in a way a court could easily follow. A source familiar with the investigation added, "Rich has spent decades doing exactly that."
‘The Dean of the Antitrust Bar’
Colleagues past and present describe Mr. Parker as an elite lawyer whose credentials are matched by an unusual ability to attract talent, earn trust and inspire loyalty. "Internally at Milbank we call him the dean of the antitrust bar, and I don't think that's an exaggeration," Mr. Weingarten said. Mr. Di Vincenzo affirms that Mr. Parker is "a legend in antitrust" and "one of the best technical antitrust lawyers you'll ever see."
The profile follows Mr. Parker's path from UC Davis and Army service to UCLA Law School, where he graduated in 1974, and a clerkship with federal judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. Across a career spanning private practice and government service, he has handled the full range of antitrust work, from mergers to criminal matters and class actions. He joined the Federal Trade Commission in 1998 and became director of the Bureau of Competition in 1999, a role he calls "the best job I ever had."
The article also covers the philosophy behind Mr. Parker's trial record. "You win antitrust cases not on the basis of fancy economics," he said. "You win it on the basis of common sense." In one matter the article highlights, Mr. Parker's focus on credible, human testimony helped a transaction win a unanimous FTC vote. Mr. Parker also urges younger lawyers to commit to pro bono work and public service. Among his most meaningful pro bono work, he helped overturn the sentences of two individuals on death row, which he considers the most important cases of his career.
The team’s work on behalf of the State of California has also been covered by The New York Times, Financial Times, Business Insider, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, among many others.
To read the full GCR article, please click here.
