FTC’s Conner Goes To Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins announced that Ian Conner, former Director of the Bureau of Competition at the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has joined the firm’s Washington, DC, office as a partner in the Litigation & Trial Department and as a member of the Antitrust & Competition Practice. 

Amanda Reeves, Global Chair of the Antitrust & Competition Practice noted, “The last few years have seen a notable uptick in activity among competition agencies around the world, and Latham is armed with a highly experienced team to navigate this new antitrust era. Among our many differentiators both as a firm and as a practice, our ability to deploy the right team with the exact set of capabilities and experience anywhere in the world is an incredible boon for our clients.”

At Latham, Conner will apply his unique skill set and knowledge base to advise multinational companies on a wide variety of antitrust issues, particularly with regard to merger control and conduct investigations. He is experienced in the pharmaceutical, technology, oil and gas, retail services, telecommunications, transportation, and healthcare industries. “Bringing Ian onboard further enhances our elite team and enables us to apply up-to-date enforcement thinking gained directly in the field to the complex global challenges our clients face today, as well as to help companies see around corners. He’s a wonderful addition and we’re thrilled to continue to invest and extend our top global capabilities in antitrust,” Reeves added.

Most recently, Conner served in the Bureau of Competition at the FTC, joining in 2017 as Deputy Director before rising to Director in 2019. There he oversaw nearly 300 lawyers and staff in bringing merger and civil non-merger enforcement matters during the most active enforcement fiscal year since 2000. When the pandemic began in March 2020, he was tasked with running the Bureau remotely. Prior to joining the FTC, Conner spent a decade in private practice. He began his career as a Trial Attorney in the Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture Section of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, which he joined through the Attorney General’s Honors Program.