Darren Tucker
2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 500 West
Washington, D.C. 20037
Darren Tucker focuses on merger and non-merger antitrust investigations in the technology, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors. Darren draws on both his experience as a former Federal Trade Commission attorney and his nearly 20 years in private practice to provide valuable insights to clients regarding competition enforcement and policy issues. He advises clients on a range of pricing and distribution issues; helps clients close mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures worth tens of billions of dollars annually; and works on some of the most hot-button antitrust issues, including multi-sided platform markets, ESG/sustainability issues, and energy transition. Chambers USA says that Darren “is commended for his merger and conduct investigation work on behalf of technology companies. He also provides astute compliance counseling.”
In addition to representing clients before the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, Darren has extensive experience on merger and dominance investigations outside the U.S., having counseled clients on antitrust matters in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia. All major legal credentialing organizations, including Chambers, Global Competition Review, and Legal 500, recognize Darren as a leading antitrust practitioner.
Darren regularly speaks and writes on antitrust issues relevant to technology, energy, and life science companies, as well as on competition agency practice and procedure. He served as the Editorial Chair of the eighth edition of Antitrust Law Developments, the leading antitrust treatise for practitioners. He also served as Editorial Chair and an Editorial Advisory Board Member for two leading antitrust periodicals. He has taught an advanced antitrust seminar as an adjunct professor at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He has been part of the leadership of the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law for over a decade, where he currently serves as an Officer.
Experience Highlights
Represented Sinclair in its $1.8 billion acquisition by HollyFrontier
Oasis Petroleum Inc. in a $6 billion merger of equals with Whiting Petroleum Corporation creating Chord Energy in 2022
Represented Plains All American in connection with its Permian Basin Joint Venture with Oryx Midstream
Represented Google in its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit
Represented a leading U.S. internet services company in global dominance investigations and counseling matters
Represented a leading health care system with obtaining FTC approval for multiple acquisitions and joint ventures in the same metro area
Represented clients on competition enforcement issues related to standard essential patents, big data, pricing algorithms, and the intersection of privacy and antitrust
Credentials
- University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 1998
- The College of William and Mary, B.A., 1995
- From 2009–2013, Darren served as an attorney advisor to Commissioners Joshua D. Wright and J. Thomas Rosch at the FTC. In that role, Darren advised on all aspects of the FTC’s competition mission, including staff enforcement recommendations, litigation strategy, and policy matters. He also drafted official opinions, statements, speeches, articles, and testimony. Notable matters on which Darren worked while at the FTC include the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines; the North Carolina Dental, Realcomp, ProMedica, and Polypore adjudicative proceedings; the Express Scripts/Medco merger; and the 2011 Accountable Care Organization enforcement policy. This experience allows Darren to provide valuable insights to clients regarding competition enforcement and policy issues.
- Clerkship to Judge Edmund Ludwig of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1998–1999)
- Chambers USA, Antitrust (District of Columbia), 2020–2024
- Legal 500 U.S., Antitrust: Cartel, 2016, 2017, and 2019–2024; Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense, 2016–2017 and 2019–2023; Antitrust: Merger Control, 2016–2017 and 2019–2024
- Selected to the 500 Leading Litigators in America, Lawdragon, 2023–2025
- Selected to the Washington D.C. Super Lawyers list, Super Lawyers® (Thomson Reuters), 2018–2024
- The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), Antitrust Law (Washington), 2019–2025
- Recognized as a “Future Leader” for being one of the top antitrust lawyers under the age of 45, Global Competition Review and Who’s Who Legal, 2017
- Recognized, U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers 2017 Practice Group of the Year for Antitrust Law (2017)
- Nominee: Concurrences’ Antitrust Writing Award (2014, 2015 and 2021)
- Legal Media Group’s (Euromoney’s) Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers, 2021
- Adjunct Professor: Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University (Fall Semester 2017)
- Editorial Chair: ABA Antitrust Source (2009–2015)
- Member: Law360 Competition Editorial Advisory Board (2011–2016)
- Leadership: ABA Section of Antitrust Law Publications Officer (2006–2022); currently serves as Finance Officer (2022–2024)
- District of Columbia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Circuit U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. Supreme Court
- InsightOctober 16, 2024
V&E Antitrust Update
- InsightOctober 11, 2024
V&E Antitrust Update
- Event RecapSeptember 27, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsSeptember 12, 2024
- InsightAugust 21, 2024
V&E Antitrust and Labor & Employment Update
- InsightAugust 7, 2024
V&E Antitrust Update
- Deals & CasesAugust 6, 2024
- InsightJuly 23, 2024
Published by Lawdragon, July 22, 2024
- InsightJuly 8, 2024
V&E Antitrust and Labor & Employment Update
- InsightJune 25, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsJune 12, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsJune 6, 2024
- Deals & CasesMay 28, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsApril 25, 2024
- InsightApril 24, 2024
V&E Antitrust and Labor & Employment Update
- Deals & CasesFebruary 21, 2024
- InsightJanuary 24, 2024
V&E Antitrust Update
- Event RecapJanuary 16, 2024
- InsightJanuary 11, 2024
- Deals & CasesJanuary 11, 2024
- InsightDecember 20, 2023
V&E Antitrust Update
- InsightNovember 8, 2023
V&E Antitrust Update
- InsightOctober 5, 2023
- InsightSeptember 28, 2023
- InsightSeptember 20, 2023
- Deals & CasesSeptember 14, 2023
- Deals & CasesSeptember 13, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsSeptember 11, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 21, 2023
- InsightJuly 17, 2023
- InsightJuly 17, 2023
- InsightJune 29, 2023
- InsightJune 29, 2023
V&E Antitrust Update
- Rankings & AwardsJune 12, 2023
- InsightJune 7, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJune 1, 2023
- InsightMay 1, 2023
V&E Antitrust Update
- Rankings & AwardsApril 28, 2023
- Deals & CasesMarch 27, 2023
- InsightFebruary 9, 2023
- Event RecapFebruary 8, 2023
- InsightJanuary 10, 2023
V&E Antitrust Update
- InsightJanuary 6, 2023
V&E Non-Compete Update
- Deals & CasesJanuary 3, 2023
- InsightOctober 20, 2022
Published by Lawdragon.com
- Deals & CasesOctober 17, 2022
- Deals & CasesOctober 17, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsOctober 4, 2022
- InsightSeptember 23, 2022
- Deals & CasesSeptember 22, 2022
- Deals & CasesSeptember 22, 2022
- InsightSeptember 20, 2022
V&E Antitrust Update
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 18, 2022
- Deals & CasesAugust 3, 2022
- InsightAugust 1, 2022
V&E Antitrust Update
- Deals & CasesJune 17, 2022
- InsightJune 16, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsJune 16, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsJune 1, 2022
- Deals & CasesMay 20, 2022
- InsightMay 12, 2022
V&E Antitrust Update
- Rankings & AwardsMay 2, 2022
- Deals & CasesApril 28, 2022
- InsightApril 20, 2022
- Deals & CasesApril 4, 2022
- Deals & CasesMarch 14, 2022
- Deals & CasesMarch 9, 2022
- Deals & CasesMarch 7, 2022
- Deals & CasesMarch 2, 2022
- Deals & CasesMarch 1, 2022
- Deals & CasesFebruary 22, 2022
- InsightFebruary 9, 2022
- Event RecapFebruary 2, 2022
- InsightJanuary 31, 2022
Published by Law360
- InsightJanuary 24, 2022
V&E Antitrust Update
- InsightJanuary 18, 2022
- Deals & CasesJanuary 18, 2022
- Deals & CasesSeptember 7, 2021
- Deals & CasesAugust 3, 2021
- Deals & CasesJuly 13, 2021
- Deals & CasesJune 8, 2021
- Deals & CasesJune 7, 2021
- Energy Antitrust: The Year In Review And What Lies Ahead | Law 360 Competition, January 20, 2021
- The Durability of the New Vertical Merger Guidelines | Antitrust Magazine, 34, No. 3, 2020
- Key Trends In Energy Antitrust Enforcement And Litigation | Law 360 Competition, January 21, 2020
- The Antitrust Divergence at the FTC: Beyond Vertical Mergers | Antitrust Magazine, 33, No. 3, 2019
- “Is Digital the Dawn of a New Day or Just a Big Ditto?” Antitrust Economics Workshop at Fordham University School of Law, September 11, 2019 (panelist)
- “Advocating Before the Agencies: White Paper & Meetings,” Antitrust Law 2019 Spring Meeting, March 27, 2019 (panelist)
- Recent Trends In Energy Antitrust Enforcement And Litigation | Law 360 Competition, February 4, 2019
- Roundtable: Discussing the Big Picture on Big Data | Antitrust Source, December 2018 (panelist)
- Antitrust Claims Against Google Are Ridiculous Because Consumers Are Not Getting Harmed | The Daily Caller, February 23, 2018
- REMS: The Next Pharmaceutical Enforcement Priority? | Antitrust Magazine, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2014
- Internet Ready: Agency Enforcement of Online Mergers | Antitrust Magazine, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 80, Fall 2011
- Emerging Theories of Competitive Harm in Merger Enforcement | Antitrust Source, October 2011
- Effective Advocacy Before the Commission | Antitrust Magazine, Vol. 24, No. 3, 2010
- Antitrust Risk-Shifting Provisions in Merger Agreements After the Financial Collapse | Antitrust Source, April 2009
- Seventeen Years Later: Thoughts on Revising the Horizontal Merger Guidelines | Antitrust Source, October 2009
- FTC Merger Enforcement after CCC/Mitchell: A Response to Slater | The Threshold, Vol. 10, No. 1, Fall 2009
- Keeping the Engagement Ring: Apportioning Antitrust Risk with Reverse Breakup Fees | Antitrust Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2008
- The Customer is Sometimes Right: The Role of Customer Views in Merger Investigations | Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Vol. 3, Issue 4, pp. 551-607, 2007
- The Elephant in the Room: Litigating the Fix after Arch Coal and Dairy Farmers | Antitrust Source, January 2006
- The Merger Guidelines Commentary: Practical Guidance and Missed Opportunities | Antitrust Source, May 2006
- FDA Citizen Petitions: A New Means of Delaying Generic Entry? | Antitrust Health Care Chronicle, Vol. 20, No. 3, p. 10, 2006