Rob’s Washington, DC-based competition and trade regulation practice involves counseling on the competitive implications of business strategies, regulatory matters, and litigation. He defends clients in complex litigation and in merger and regulatory reviews by agencies such as the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US. Rob’s clients include media and telecommunications companies, health systems and providers, national retailers, trade associations, life sciences companies, and technology companies.
Rob specializes in clearly explaining strategic risks and their relative values in order to help senior executives make informed decisions. He provides advice to clients from across the country and around the world in high-profile matters including:
- Complex litigation (class action and otherwise)
- Antitrust issues in mergers and acquisitions / second requests
- Strategic business planning and risk management
- Regulatory issues arising from foreign investments in U.S. businesses (particularly Chinese investment)
- Federal and state regulatory investigations
- Policy advocacy and notice-and-comment rulemaking
- Appellate review of agency action
- Trade association counseling
- Privacy and data security
- Consumer protection and unfair/deceptive trade practices
Rob represents clients in numerous markets, including:
- Media content and distribution
- Wireless communications
- Health care providers and services
- Life sciences
- Technology
- Retail & Consumer Products
- Trade associations and non-profits
He has written and spoken widely on litigation risk management and cost containment and on issues faced by businesses when they interact with federal and state enforcers and administrative agencies.
Rob is an active supporter of the firm’s pro bono program, providing representation to numerous indigent clients before the Social Security Administration and in local family and domestic relations courts. He has provided corporate and business planning advice to the National Network to End Domestic Violence and other non-profit clients. He is also an active supporter of the firm’s mentoring and sponsorship program.
Prior to his career in the law, Rob was an on-air radio personality and station production director in Lexington, KY.
Education
- Georgetown University (JD)
- University of Kentucky (BA)
Experience
- Co-lead trial counsel in the 2020 jury trial of a nationwide class action alleging global price fixing in sales of capacitors.
- Lead U.S. antitrust counsel for Qiagen N.V. in its $11 billion sale to Thermo Fisher Scientific, announced in March 2020.
- Successfully represented a global contract manufacturer before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in its 2020 acquisition by a Chinese investor.
- Serves as ongoing antitrust counsel to one of the nation’s largest and most respected integrated physician/hospital provider network on matters including mergers, affiliations, investigations, and litigation.
- Represented the nation’s premier retail pharmacy chain in its $27 billion industry-transforming acquisition of a “big three” pharmacy benefits manager.
- Serves as ongoing antitrust counsel to several of the world’s leading genetic and molecular diagnostic test developers and providers.
- Lead counsel for three separate cable operators in sprawling multidistrict litigation involving more than 30 separate suits filed around the country relating to the alleged tying of cable set-top boxes to certain cable services.
- Serves as ongoing antitrust counsel to one of the world’s largest and most recognizable brands in healthcare equipment and technology.
- Serves as ongoing antitrust, regulatory, and litigation counsel to several of the nation’s leading cable, media, and wireless telecommunications companies and trade associations.
- Provides ongoing antitrust and foreign investment counsel to dozens of early-stage companies in biotech, healthcare, green energy, and high-tech manufacturing.
Recognition & Awards
- Washington DC Super Lawyers: Rising Star – Antitrust Litigation (2013 – 2014)
- Washington DC Super Lawyers: Antitrust Litigation (2017 - 2019)
Recent Insights
Viewpoints
Webinar Recording: Cutting Through the Antitrust Noise — What’s Actually Going On?
October 7, 2021 |Webinar
News & Press
An article published by The Deal featured remarks made by Mintz Member and Co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust Practice Bruce Sokler, Member Robert Kidwell, and Special Counsel Farrah Short during a firm webinar held earlier this month focused on recent antitrust developments and what companies should know as they conduct business and plan transactions and investments.
Mintz Member and Co-chair of the firm’s Sports & Entertainment Practice Tyrone Thomas and Member in the firm's Antitrust Practice Robert Kidwell co-authored a Bloomberg Law Insights column providing analysis on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston on restrictions on athletes’ education-related benefits, which they wrote leads to a “what now” moment for colleges across the nation.
Events
Antitrust is having its moment. Mintz’s antitrust team will clear away “the fog of war” and focus on what you should know as you conduct your business and plan your transactions and investments.
Viewpoints
Webinar Recording: Cutting Through the Antitrust Noise — What’s Actually Going On?
October 7, 2021 | Webinar | By Robert Kidwell, Joseph Miller, Farrah Short, Bruce Sokler
Mintz’s antitrust team discussed what you should know as you conduct your business and plan your transactions and investments.
Read more
President Biden’s Competition Executive Order’s “Encouragement” to the FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division
July 9, 2021 | Alert | By Bruce Sokler, Joseph Miller, Robert Kidwell
Read about President Biden’s July 9 Executive Order with 72 initiatives to promote competition in the U.S. economy, including through actions directed at labor markets and the health care, technology, agriculture, and banking sectors.
Read more
FTC Abandons Appeal of Philadelphia Hospital Merger, Allowing Jefferson and Einstein to Proceed with Creation of 18-Hospital System
March 2, 2021 | Blog | By Bruce Sokler, Joseph Miller, Robert Kidwell
Back in December, we wrote about a district court ruling rejecting the Federal Trade Comission’s (“FTC”) motion to enjoin the proposed combination of Thomas Jefferson University (“TJU”) and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (“Einstein”) that would create an 18-hospital system in the Philadelphia area. The FTC and the Pennsylvania Attorney General had alleged the merger would lead to TJU/Einstein controlling at least 60% of the inpatient GAC hospital services market in a portion of Philadelphia. Following the district court decision, the FTC quickly appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and filed an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal. Days later, a three-judge panel denied the government’s motion without comment.
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HSR Notification Thresholds Decrease in 2021
February 1, 2021 | Alert | By Bruce Sokler, Robert Kidwell, Farrah Short
This alert reviews the lower jurisdictional thresholds scheduled to be published by the FTC on February 2, 2021for premerger notification filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act).
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FTC’s Hospital Merger Challenges Hit Speedbump in Philadelphia
December 15, 2020 | Alert | By Bruce Sokler, Joseph Miller, Robert Kidwell
This alert examines a Philadelphia US district court decision that denied the FTC’s and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s request to preliminarily enjoin a proposed merger between Thomas Jefferson University and the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network.
Read more
MLS Election Update: Impact on Trade
November 10, 2020 | Blog | By R. Neal Martin, Robert Kidwell, Alexander Hecht, Anthony DeMaio
Read about the post-election impact on international trade matters and the incoming administration's influence on the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. (CFIUS).
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Treasury Issues Final Rule Amending CFIUS Mandatory Filing Requirements
September 17, 2020 | Blog | By Robert Kidwell, Tinny Song
DOJ and the FTC Publish Vertical Merger Guidelines
July 13, 2020 | Blog | By Joseph Miller, Bruce Sokler, Robert Kidwell, Evan Moore
Commissioner Chopra Releases Statement on Private Equity Physician Practice Roll-Ups with FTC/DOJ HSR Annual Report
July 10, 2020 | Blog | By Joseph Miller, Robert Kidwell
On Wednesday, an FTC Commissioner used the occasion of a routine report to Congress to send a warning shot to private equity firms, especially those rolling up health care providers. Commissioner Rohit Chopra, an advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren before he joined the Commission in May 2018, released this statement focusing particular scrutiny on private equity (PE) firms and the practice of acquiring physician groups, especially emergency medicine, anesthesiology, and other services that generate “surprise” out of network charges for otherwise insured patients.
Read more
Newly Expanded CFIUS Jurisdiction
February 12, 2020 | Alert | By Cory S. Flashner, Steve Ganis, Robert Kidwell, Alyssa C. Scruggs
This alert covers new regulations taking effect on February 13, 2020 that significantly broaden CFIUS’s jurisdiction by granting it significant new review power over foreign investments in US businesses and real estate.
Read more
News & Press
Biden Enforcers Fail to Stem Rising Merger Tide
October 22, 2021
An article published by The Deal featured remarks made by Mintz Member and Co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust Practice Bruce Sokler, Member Robert Kidwell, and Special Counsel Farrah Short during a firm webinar held earlier this month focused on recent antitrust developments and what companies should know as they conduct business and plan transactions and investments.
Mintz Member and Co-chair of the firm’s Sports & Entertainment Practice Tyrone Thomas and Member in the firm's Antitrust Practice Robert Kidwell co-authored a Bloomberg Law Insights column providing analysis on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston on restrictions on athletes’ education-related benefits, which they wrote leads to a “what now” moment for colleges across the nation.
Mintz Advises XCM Solutions in its Sale to Wolters Kluwer
September 22, 2020
Firm plays a key role in the largest health care acquisition to date in 2020.
The Shutdown Is Over, But Merger Review Backlog Remains
January 28, 2019
Though merger reviewers at the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are back at work after the 30+ day government shutdown, antitrust experts note that backlog and the possibility of another shutdown are significantly impacting the certainty merging parties rely on. Mintz Member Rob Kidwell is among the industry sources quoted.
This article in The Boston Globe looks at how a law – signed in August and which took effect in November – is impacting Boston’s start-up community. The specific law is the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and it requires foreign entities investing in U.S. companies in 27 “critical” industries to be properly documented with CFIUS at the risk of penalties.
FTC Investigations Could Bring Unwanted Scrutiny to Hospitals
January 1, 2019
This feature article looks at the potential increased scrutiny hospitals may face from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in terms of anticompetitive behavior. Rob Kidwell, an antitrust Member with Mintz, is among the industry sources providing commentary.
DOJ sensibly returns to antitrust fundamentals on patent licensing
November 23, 2018
A team of Mintz attorneys - Mike Renaud, Rob Kidwell and Rob Moore - authored this issues response op-ed discussing the Department of Justice's (DOJ) statements on intellectual property rights, "the New Madison Approach." This approach marks a return to the core principles on which the patent laws are predicated.
Mintz is pleased to announce that eight attorneys have been named Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers for 2018 and three others have been named Washington, D.C. Rising Stars. The annual publication identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
Physician Practice Acquisitions And Antitrust Scrutiny
September 19, 2017
Chair of Mintz’s Antitrust section Bruce Sokler, along with Member Rob Kidwell and attorneys, Farrah Short Shawn Skolky collaborated on an article regarding the Washington state attorney general’s office suit against the expansion efforts of Franciscan Health System.
Eight Mintz attorneys have been named Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers for 2017 and four have been named Washington, D.C. Rising Stars. The list will be published in a special advertising supplement in The Washington Post Magazine and in a stand-alone magazine, Washington D.C. Super Lawyers Magazine.
What The Qualcomm Case Tells Us About FTC And FRAND
January 26, 2017
Mintz attorneys Michael Renaud, Robert Kidwell, and Robert Moore discuss the FTC’s suit against Qualcomm in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California as well as the timing of the lawsuit and specifics of the FTC’s complaints against said company.
A New Meaning For FRAND In Korea's Qualcomm Sanctions
January 24, 2017
A team of Mintz attorneys author this column discussing the Korean Fair Trade Commission’s steep fine against Qualcomm for antitrust violations and the continued antitrust concerns raised by Qualcomm’s licensing practices.
Mintz Member Robert G. Kidwell to Speak at 2016 Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting
October 04, 2016
Robert G. Kidwell, Member of Mintz's Antitrust and Federal Regulatory Practice, is participating in a panel discussion at the 2016 Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting. Mr. Kidwell will discuss the increasing pressure on health care providers to rein in escalating costs.
What Have Merchants Gained From Payment Card Litigation?
August 10, 2016
Mintz Members Bruce Sokler and Robert Kidwell, and Special Counsel Farrah Short, authored this Law360 column about the war being waged between businesses that accept payment cards and payment card fees and protective network rules.
McWane Cert. Loss Leaves Uncertainty For Exclusive Dealing
March 22, 2016
Mintz Member Robert Kidwell is quoted in this Law360 article discussing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to not review the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ finding that McWane Inc. maintained monopoly power through a rebate policy.
Members Peter Saparoff and Robert Kidwell and Associates Joel Rothman and Kevin Mortimer authored this ABA’s Section of Litigation column on the trend of plaintiff investors filing a growing number of class action cases against financial institutions alleging violations of U.S. antitrust laws.
Seven Mintz attorneys have been named Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers for 2015 and five have been named Washington, D.C. Rising Stars. The list will be published in a special advertising supplement in Washington Post Magazine and in a stand-alone Washington D.C. Super Lawyers Magazine.
Mintz’s Wins Significant Antitrust Case for C-SPAN
June 10, 2013
Events
Speaker
Speaker
May
23
2018
From Drugmaker to Insurer: The Changing Landscape of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Reorg Research & Event Driven
New York, NY
Nov
16
2016
Into the Fire: Antitrust Issues in Mergers, Contracting, and Joint Ventures
Mississippi Hospital Association
Webinar
Speaker
Speaker
Jun
14
2016