Leslie C. Overton
Partner and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
Leslie Overton is an antitrust partner and Axinn’s chief diversity, equity & inclusion officer. With a wealth of experience from her time at the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ), Leslie offers her clients a valuable combination of experience and insight. She guides companies through merger reviews, civil non-merger investigations, and criminal investigations involving federal, state, and/or foreign antitrust authorities. Her counseling practice focuses on delivering clear, actionable advice on pricing, distribution, and other strategic business matters. Leslie crafts tailored antitrust compliance programs that meet each client’s unique needs and business context.
Leslie C. Overton
Partner and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
Leslie Overton is an antitrust partner and Axinn’s chief diversity, equity & inclusion officer. With a wealth of experience from her time at the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ), Leslie offers her clients a valuable combination of experience and insight. She guides companies through merger reviews, civil non-merger investigations, and criminal investigations involving federal, state, and/or foreign antitrust authorities. Her counseling practice focuses on delivering clear, actionable advice on pricing, distribution, and other strategic business matters. Leslie crafts tailored antitrust compliance programs that meet each client’s unique needs and business context.
While serving as deputy assistant attorney general for civil enforcement during the Obama administration, Leslie managed over half of the DOJ’s merger challenges in fiscal years 2012 – 2014, including litigation complaints, settlements, and transactions restructured or abandoned. She also supervised litigation and civil non-merger investigations, as well as several criminal antitrust matters.
Leslie’s role during the Obama administration also extended to leadership with respect to international engagement as well as healthcare policy. In the Bush administration, she served as counsel to the assistant attorney general, contributing to major investigations, litigation, and landmark healthcare hearings with and reports to the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC").
Leslie is Chambers-ranked and included in The Legal 500 United States and Lawdragon’s "500 Leading Dealmakers in America." She has also been honored by Global Competition Review: she was selected twice for inclusion in GCR's "Women in Antitrust" and as one of eight American lawyers chosen for its "Forty Under 40" list. The American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s Women.Connected inducted her into its “Hall of Fame-inism” for her role as a mentor and trailblazer in antitrust.
Experience
Private Practice
- Represented Boral Limited, a leading global supplier of building materials, in connection with its $2.6 billion acquisition of Headwaters Inc. The transaction obtained unconditional antitrust regulatory clearance.
- Served as counsel to medical technology company Halyard Health Inc. with the $710 million sale of its leading surgical and infection prevention business to Owens & Minor Inc., a global provider of healthcare solutions.
- Represented Pamlico Capital in the $600 million sale of portfolio company Wilcon Holdings LLC, a leading fiber services provider with fiber assets primarily in Los Angeles and San Diego, to Crown Castle International, the largest provider of shared wireless infrastructure in the United States.
- Provided antitrust counseling to healthcare providers and insurers on managed care contracting matters.
- Assessed antitrust risk posed by a client’s involvement with industry groups that develop best practices and help inform policymakers, and advised on practical compliance strategies and materials.
- Represented a Japanese company in connection with major cartel investigations in the United States and abroad alleging price fixing and bid rigging involving auto parts.
Government
- Managed merger and civil non-merger matters spanning a range of industries and commodities, including agriculture, banking, broadband, building materials, consumer products, defense, electricity, financial services, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, Internet, media, metals, oil field services, payment systems, telecommunications, transportation, and waste industries.
- Supervised the investigation of a proposed $3.3 billion merger involving two leading manufacturers and the filing of a lawsuit to block it. The transaction was abandoned after one party withdrew while trial was underway.
- Senior decision-maker for the Antitrust Division’s civil non-merger litigation against a major credit card company that led to a federal trial judge’s finding of Sherman Act violations.
- Supervised an investigation and litigation to unwind a consummated combination of online ratings software firms, achieving in 2014 a rare merger trial win, the United States’ second since 2003.
- Oversaw an investigation involving international cooperation with competition officials in China, Korea, Germany, and elsewhere regarding a proposed $29 billion high-tech manufacturing equipment merger, which the parties abandoned following the DOJ’s competitive concerns about innovation and rejection of their remedy proposal.
- Supervised the investigation and consent decree settlement requiring disgorgement of ill-gotten gain as well as a civil penalty from parties alleged to have violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act through unlawful premerger coordination. The civil penalty was the second-largest “gun-jumping” penalty DOJ had ever obtained.
- Served as acting assistant attorney general for several criminal antitrust matters.
- On healthcare antitrust policy, oversaw and contributed to engagement with the Federal Trade Commission, stakeholders within the executive branch, state enforcement officials, and the public.
- Supervised the promotion of international case cooperation, substantive convergence, and procedural fairness in merger, civil non-merger, and cartel investigations through engagement within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and International Competition Network (ICN). Helped lead the Antitrust Division’s preparation for and participation in bilateral meetings with senior officials from Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, and other jurisdictions.
- Oversaw the Antitrust Division’s engagement as part of broader U.S. government participation in the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), both of which achieved commitments from the Chinese about competition.
*Includes matters handled prior to joining Axinn
Honors
- Global Competition Review, "Women in Antitrust" (2009, 2021)
- Chambers USA, Washington, DC: Antitrust (2019 – 2024)
- Lawdragon, "500 Leading Dealmakers in America" (2024 – 2025)
- Lawdragon, "500 Leading Litigators in America" (2023 – 2025)
- Best Lawyers
- Profiles in Diversity Journal, Black Leadership Award Winner (2022)
- Profiles in Diversity Journal, "Women Worth Watching" (2021)
- The Legal 500 United States, Antitrust: Merger Control (2023 – 2024)
- Global Competition Review, "40 Under 40"
- National Bar Association, "40 Lawyers Under 40"
- ABA Antitrust Law Section's Women.Connected Committee Hall of Fame-inism (2022)
- "The Root 100"
- Outstanding Healthcare Antitrust Lawyer” by Nightingale’s Healthcare News
Education
- JD – University of Michigan (1994)
- BA – University of Pennsylvania (1991)
Admissions
- District of Columbia
News & Insights
News & Insights
Antitrust and the 2024 U.S. Elections: Is the Past Prologue?
Byline Articles
Antitrust
Axinn Partners Named to Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America 2025
Awards & Recognitions
Antitrust
Axinn Achieves Mansfield Certification from Diversity Lab for 2023-2024
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
CCWC 20th Annual Career Strategies Conference
Speaking Engagement
Antitrust
ABA Antitrust Across Africa 2024
Speaking Engagement
Antitrust
Axinn Partners Named to Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America 2025
Awards & Recognitions
Antitrust
Axinn Serves as Antitrust Counsel for UPMC in its Affiliation with Washington Health System
Deals & Cases
Antitrust
Axinn’s Antitrust Practice Nationally Ranked by The Legal 500 United States for 2024
Awards & Recognitions
Antitrust
Chambers USA 2024 Ranks 16 Axinn Lawyers, including 14 Antitrust Partners, and Recognizes the Firm in Seven Jurisdictions
Awards & Recognitions
Antitrust
Implementing Your Leadership Vision
Speaking Engagement
Antitrust