Mr. McCalmon's antitrust practice focuses on complex litigation, private actions, and merger and conduct investigations brought by  the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general. He also represents companies in investigations of marketing, advertising, and privacy practices before the FTC and other consumer protection agencies.

Antitrust M&A Review and Conduct Investigations

Mr. McCalmon’s representations have included merger and antitrust investigations of clients in a wide range of industries, including waste services, paperboard and paper products, health care providers, medical devices, periodicals distribution, airlines, funeral services and telecommunications.  He recently led Waste Management, Inc. in the successful resolution of an investigation by DOJ and multiple States into WM’s $4.5 billion merger with Advanced Disposal Services, resolving DOJ’s alleged competitive concerns across multiple services in over 50 geographic markets in the U.S.

Clients rely on Mr.McCalmon’s 25 years of experience in guiding them through all antitrust-related aspects of a strategic merger or acquisition, including: analysis of investigation risk for the deal; negotiations of antitrust risk allocation and other terms in the agreement; management of due diligence and integration planning to avoid gun-jumping issues; pre-closing communications with key customers; analysis of and compliance with Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) and global premerger filing requirements; and advocacy before the FTC, DOJ, state AGs, and courts in substantive merger investigations.

He has also successfully represented companies in federal monopolization and price-fixing investigations and in state AG antitrust investigations in over a dozen states.

Mr. McCalmon counsels clients on antitrust considerations for all manner of business arrangements, including joint ventures, subcontracting, teaming arrangements, and pricing and distribution programs.

Antitrust and Complex Litigation

Mr. McCalmon represents companies and individuals in claims brought by regulators, competitors, and customers under the Sherman Act, FTC Act, and other statutes. His clients depend on his ability to identify and implement strategies that free them from burdensome litigation in the most cost-effective manner.

Consumer Protection, Privacy, and Regulatory Counsel

Mr. McCalmon represents clients in compliance efforts and litigation under multiple federal and state consumer protection statutes.  He structures marketing, advertising, and social media programs to comply with the requirements of the FTC Act, and various states’ consumer protection laws, and defends companies accused of deceptive trade practices and privacy violations.  For example, Mr. McCalmon helped lead the defense of a financial industry member in one of the first investigations ever conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (conducted jointly with FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection), successfully convinced the FTC to drop a non-public investigation into the consumer data-gathering practices of an internet b2b services provider, and was co-counsel on a team that convinced FTC to drop its non-public investigation into algorithms used by a leading internet valuation company.

Mr. McCalmon also counsels individuals and companies on warranty issues arising under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and has overseen the worldwide drafting of consumer warranties for multinational products manufacturers. in addition, Mr. McCalmon guides product and food manufacturers through the labyrinth of labeling requirements governed by FTC and FDA regulations and labeling statutes, and counsels importers on compliance with the Made in USA guidelines under the FTC Act.