Roger Fones is senior of counsel at Morrison Foerster in Washington, DC. He has extensive expertise in antitrust issues affecting regulated and partially regulated industries, particularly the airline and electric utility sectors. He has worked primarily in transportation, energy, and agriculture industries, but also has experience in aluminum, biotech, chemicals, telecommunications, and waste hauling. Since joining Morrison & Foerster, he has represented several major airlines and ocean carriers in civil, criminal, and regulatory matters involving the Department of Justice, as well as private treble damage litigation. He has also represented clients in merger investigations before the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Fones spent almost 30 years at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where he worked as a trial attorney on criminal and civil (including merger) cases and investigations, and on merger and other proceedings conducted by various regulatory agencies. He served as the Chief of the Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture Section for more than ten years. During his time in the Department of Justice, Mr. Fones led or supervised numerous investigations and legal challenges of domestic airline mergers and acquisitions (including route, slot, and gate acquisitions), and domestic and international code-sharing agreements. He supervised the Department’s challenge of United Airlines’ proposed acquisition of US Airways, its lawsuit against American Airlines for predatory conduct to monopolize its Dallas-Ft. Worth hub, and the trial against Northwest Airlines for buying control of Continental Airlines. In surface transportation, Mr. Fones supervised numerous investigations and litigation involving railroad, motor carrier, ocean carrier and passenger bus transactions and conduct. In agriculture industries, Mr. Fones supervised the Department’s litigation and settlement with Smithfield Foods over alleged Hart-Scott-Rodino violations, its civil cases against LSL Biotechnology (tomato seeds) and the Eastern Mushrooms Marketing Association, and the Department’s merger cases against Connor Bros./Bumble Bee, Syngenta AG/Advanta B.V., Archer Daniels Midland/Minnesota Corn Products, Cargill/Continental Grain, and Dairy Farmers of America/Borden. In energy industries, Mr. Fones was responsible for all civil antitrust enforcement (merger and non-merger) in the regulated electric power and natural gas industries, as well as in other non-regulated energy industries. Cases in the electric power industry included lawsuits against Rochester Gas & Electric; the City of Stillwell, Oklahoma; Enova Corp./Pacific Enterprises; and El Paso Natural Gas. Other energy industry cases included the civil and criminal contempt trial against Smith International and Schlumberger, which resulted in convictions, fines, and a $13.1-million civil settlement, as well as the Department’s successful cases against the Halliburton/Dresser and Dresser/Baroid mergers. Mr. Fones received his J.D. summa cum laude and an M.A. in economics from Ohio State University. He received his B.A. with high honors from Denison University.
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A recent settlement in a biotech merger case may signal a greater willingness by DOJ to accept remedy provisions it previously would have rejected, especially to resolve vertical issues in industries heavily dependent on intellectual property and innovation. Rather than challenge Monsanto’s (...)
