Axinn Partner John D. Harkrider named a 2011 Law360 “MVP”

Washington, D.C.  - Axinn, one of the country’s leading antitrust, IP and litigation law firms, today announced that Law360 has selected John D. Harkrider, co-chair of the firm’s antitrust group, as a 2011 MVP. Mr. Harkrider was selected in the “Competition” category along with five other attorneys nationwide. Each MVP will be profiled as part of Law360’s MVP Series during the coming weeks.

 After reviewing hundreds of nominations, a team of Law360 editors chose a select group of lawyers whose accomplishments in major litigation or transactions have raised the bar in corporate law this year. MVPs were chosen from 16 practice areas and approximately 40 law firms.

 Mr. Harkrider was selected as a Law360 MVP due to his substantial contributions to antitrust strategy and advocacy in 2011. During the last year, he served as counsel for several companies facing difficult and complex challenges to their business strategies. These matters included:

 The first and fifth largest mergers ever undertaken by Google. He represented Google in its $700 million acquisition of ITA Software and $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

  A hostile merger involving an antitrust takeover defense in which Mr.Harkrider represented Omnicare as Special Antitrust Counsel in connection with Omnicare’s ongoing attempted $700 million hostile takeover of Pharmerica, a rival in the institutional pharmacy business.

  A post-consummation transaction litigated with the Department of Justice on behalf of George’s. Mr. Harkider was engaged by Tyson Foods to represent it in connection with the sale of its Harrisonburg, Virginia processing facility to George’s. Shortly after the small but significant transaction was closed, the DOJ filed suit against George’s alone, seeking divestiture of the facility to another.

 An unprecedented relief obtained in defense of open source software such as Linux and Android (CPTN).

 A $1.7 billion education software merger that replays many of the issues from Oracle/PeopleSoft. Mr. Harkrider represented SunGard sale of its higher education business to Datatel, a rival in the development and marketing of student management systems to colleges and universities.

Two of Mr. Harkrider’s transactions, CPTN and George’s, were highlighted by acting Attorney General Pozen as two of the four most significant transactions she worked on in 2011. A third, ITA Software, was generally recognized as one of the most significant antitrust matters of 2011. 

“We are extremely proud that John has been recognized as an MVP,” said founding partner Steve Axinn. “He is an outstanding attorney who works tirelessly on behalf of his clients to create sophisticated antitrust strategies that have proven invaluable for our clients.”