David Wales, Jay Neukom and Paloma Wang have joined Skadden’s antitrust and competition, intellectual property litigation, and capital markets practices, respectively.
Prominent Antitrust and Competition Partner David Wales Joins Skadden
Skadden announced on March 19, 2018, that David P. Wales has joined the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Group as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Wales is a highly regarded, U.S.-based antitrust lawyer, who most recently served as global head of the antitrust practice at another leading international law firm and previously was a senior official at both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ).
Mr. Wales has nearly 25 years of experience, and his practice focuses on providing antitrust advice to U.S. and international clients in connection with high-profile mergers and acquisitions and strategic alliances across a broad range of industries. In addition to transactional advice, Mr. Wales represents clients on all other aspects of antitrust law, including in civil and criminal investigations, licensing and competitor agreements, dominant firm conduct, and distribution arrangements. He has represented U.S. and global clients on some of the most complex and contentious antitrust matters over the past few years.
“Dave has an impressive track record of achieving successful results for clients on their most high-stakes matters, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Skadden,” said Steven C. Sunshine, leader of Skadden’s Global Antitrust and Competition Group. “Our clients will benefit greatly from Dave’s wide-ranging experience, including his unique insights from having served in front-office positions in the government.”
“I have worked alongside or across the table from Skadden and its impressive attorneys throughout my career,” said Mr. Wales. “I am delighted to join its world-class antitrust team and to have the opportunity to help provide extraordinary client service around the globe.”
As acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition (2008-09), Mr. Wales oversaw nearly 300 lawyers and staff on all antitrust enforcement matters handled by the FTC, including landmark mergers, like Whole Foods/Wild Oats and CCC/Mitchell, as well as key conduct matters, such as the agency’s reverse payment cases in the pharmaceutical industry and its enforcement actions in the petroleum industry. Earlier in his career, as counsel to the assistant attorney general in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division (2001-03), he was part of the team responsible for oversight of all aspects of the division’s enforcement actions across a variety of industries.
Mr. Wales has testified on antitrust policy issues before the U.S. Congress and the Antitrust Modernization Committee. He also is ranked as a leading practitioner in Chambers USA, Legal 500, The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers & Economists and U.S. News — Best Lawyers.
He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Syracuse University and his B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.
John (Jay) Neukom Joins Skadden as a Partner in Palo Alto
Skadden announced on February 8, 2018, that trial lawyer John (Jay) Neukom has joined the firm’s Palo Alto office as a partner in its Intellectual Property Litigation Group. Previously, Mr. Neukom practiced in the San Francisco office of another highly regarded global law firm where he served as chair of that firm’s Trade Secrets Group and represented a broad base of emerging and established technology companies.
In recent years, Mr. Neukom has served as lead counsel in over 30 complex disputes, most involving patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation claims on behalf of technology companies. He has tried numerous high-stakes commercial disputes in federal and state courts, domestic and international arbitration tribunals, and the International Trade Commission. Mr. Neukom has represented leading technology companies including Cisco, Fortinet, Google, HTC and Philips.
Kenton King, managing partner of Skadden’s Palo Alto office, said, “Jay is a terrific addition to our intellectual property litigation practice and to the Palo Alto office. His industry experience and world-class trial credentials will enhance our scope of services to clients in Silicon Valley and worldwide.”
Anthony Sammi, head of Skadden’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group, said, “Jay is an exceptionally well-rounded litigator with deep experience in technology areas such as semiconductors, telecommunications, network security, software and hardware. He is an ideal addition to our practice and we look forward to working with him.”
“Skadden’s global footprint, broad client roster and unmatched reputation provide an ideal platform for my practice, and I am delighted to join such an impressive group of attorneys,” Mr. Neukom said.
Mr. Neukom has been widely recognized for his litigation successes on behalf of technology clients. Law360 has described him as a “trial pro” and, in 2014, named him one of the top 15 intellectual property lawyers in the country under the age of 40. The Daily Journal has described him as a “patent expert” and The Recorder named him a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” in 2012.
Mr. Neukom received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. from Yale University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he served as executive editor of the Stanford Law Review. Before entering private practice, he served as a law clerk to Judge Jose Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Paloma Wang joins Skadden in Hong Kong
Skadden is pleased to welcome Paloma Wang to the firm as of counsel in the Hong Kong capital markets practice. Ms. Wang has advised both issuers and underwriters on initial public offerings and listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, including, most recently, the US$3.2 billion IPO of CGN Power, China’s largest nuclear power producer; Dali Foods Group’s US$1.15 billion IPO; and WuXi Biologics’ US$510 million IPO. She also has advised investors and corporates on private equity investments and Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed companies on compliance, general corporate and regulatory matters. Ms. Wang has joined Skadden from another highly regarded global law firm where she was a partner in its capital markets practice. She is noted for her “distinguished leadership” by Asia Pacific Legal 500 2017.