Thomas Dillickrath

Thomas Dillickrath is a partner in the Antitrust and Competition Practice Group in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

Areas of Practice

Tom focuses on antitrust litigation and merger investigations. Prior to joining the firm, he served as Deputy Chief Trial Counsel at the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC's) Bureau of Competition. During his time at the FTC, Tom litigated antitrust cases brought by the FTC involving mergers and acquisitions and other business practices affecting U.S. consumers. In particular, he was lead trial counsel in the agency’s successful federal court litigations blocking the Wilhelmsen-Drew Marine and Sanford-Mid Dakota Clinic mergers, as well as playing significant roles in the agency’s cases against 1-800 Contacts and Schein/Benco/Patterson in the FTC’s administrative court. Tom also was the lead trial attorney on several merger cases where the parties abandoned the transaction prior to trial, including DraftKings-FanDuel.

Prior to joining the FTC, Tom was a partner in the antitrust practice groups at two international law firms, where he worked with clients and competition agencies globally on a wide variety of high profile antitrust matters, from litigation and appeals to merger clearances and other government investigations. In mergers and investigations, he represented clients before domestic and foreign competition agencies and across a wide band of industries, including oil and gas, chemicals, consumer goods, airlines, high tech and telecommunications.

Tom advocates for clients before U.S. and foreign courts and competition agencies across the globe, including investigations and third-party matters. He has also represented clients in investigations of possible cartel and bid-rigging activities.

Tom also works with clients to prevent them from going to court. He conducts internal antitrust audits and investigations for multinational corporations, and has developed antitrust compliance programs and presented antitrust training for clients in the U.S. and abroad.

Clerkships

•Judicial Extern to Federal Magistrate Judge Stephen Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 2001

Digital Media

Nota Bene Episode 46: America’s Existential Antitrust Crisis with Thomas Dillickrath

Insights

Articles

• The Best of All Possible Tests, The Price Point, Winter 2014
•Co-Author, Blind Umps and Blown Calls: The Troubling Decision to Ignore 'Arguably Manipulable' Evidence in United States v. Bazaarvoice, Competition Policy International, March 1, 2014
•Co-Author, Letting the Cat Out of the Box: Noerr-Pennington Immunity and Consent Decrees, Competition Policy International, January 14, 2014
•Co-Author, Injunctive Relief and the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine: The Search for Clarity on a Muddied Pitch, Competition Policy International, March 19, 2013 (nominated as Best of 2013 and republished December 30, 2013
•Co-Author, Standard Essential Patents: The Intersection of IP Rights, Competition and Collaboratively Set Standards in the U.S. and Europe, Competition Counselor Newsletter, Fall 2012
• Trends in Private Federal Antitrust Litigation, Global Competition Review, 2010
•Co-Author, Type 1 Error and Uncertainty: Holding the Antitrust Enforcement Pendulum Steady, Global Competition Policy, November 12, 2009

Antitrust Law Blog Posts

• DOJ and FTC Issue Joint Statement Regarding COVID-19 and Antitrust Violations, April 22, 2020

• DOJ and FTC To Focus On Antitrust and Consumer Protection Violations Relating to Coronavirus, March 11, 2020

• Axon Sues FTC Over Use of Administrative Adjudication in Merger Investigations, January 14, 2020

Media Mentions

•Antitrust Counseling on Competitor Collaborations and Price Gouging during COVID-19
American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, 04.01.2020
•Dillickrath Returns to Private Practice
FTCWatch, 04.11.2019
•Sheppard Mullin Brings Aboard FTC Antitrust Lawyer
Big Law Business, 03.19.2019

Speaking Engagements

• Antitrust Counseling on Competitor Collaborations and Price Gouging during COVID-19, American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, April 1, 2020
• Federal Civil Enforcement: FTC Enforcement Authority: Recent Challenges, American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, March 18, 2020
•GCR Live Pharmaceuticals Forum, Washington D.C., February 28, 2019
• Lessons from Bazaarvoice, (with former Deputy Attorney General Fiona Scott Morton), New York Bar Association, May 21, 2014
• Recent Developments at the IP/Antitrust Intersection, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo, May 2014
• Re-writing the Rules: Civil Procedure and E-Discovery Principles, ABA Masters Conference, August 2011

Events

•Antitrust Counseling on Competitor Collaborations and Price Gouging during COVID-19
Webinar, 04.01.2020

•Webinar - The Key to the FTC Loot Box Hearings - What You Need to Know
via GlobalMeet, 05.23.2019