Thomas Horton, a former lead trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, is a professor and Heidepriem Trial Advocacy Fellow at the USD School of Law.

He offered analysis on litigation filed against the the DOJ over its attempt to block the oil merger that was published for the policy and regulatory report in Global Intelligence in Antitrust/Competition Law and also the Connecticut Financial News. The reports said the case could progress more quickly and provide an advantage to the companies if it were moved to Houston. Horton said it still would be subject to antitrust review by European Union regulators, so hopes for an expedited process might have been misplaced, he said.

Horton also was quoted in a separate story in Bloomberg about the possibility of federal prosecutors going after wrongdoers in the banking industry and not just the institutions. "There’s tremendous pressure on the Justice Department to go beyond the big fines of the past and charge individuals, given public anger directed toward bankers," Horton told the financial news site. "They’re likely taking a lot of time because this is a complicated case and they need to get it right -- but the clock is ticking."

Finally, Horton tapped his experience as a former DOJ trial lawyer who was active in defense merger cases for an article in the FTC Watch (Issue no. 894). He said “divestitures from defense mergers can pose security risks if the spun-off divisions are made available for purchase by foreign companies, especially if the implications of these sales are not immediately apparent.”

Horton’s areas of expertise include antitrust, consumer protection, trial advocacy and techniques, and history and law.

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