Norton Rose Fulbright Hires Big Tech Pro

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has hired a Covington & Burling antitrust partner who has represented Microsoft Corp, Walt Disney Co and Facebook in multi-billion dollar deals, reported Reuters. 

Miranda Cole said the size of Norton Rose Fulbright’s antitrust practice was a draw. The firm said it has more than 150 antitrust and competition lawyers across 20 countries.

At Covington, Cole represented Microsoft as the tech giant executed its biggest gaming acquisition at the time in 2020 — the $7.5 billion purchase of ZeniMax Media. ZeniMax owns multiple video game studios that make and publish games in the Doom, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series.

Cole represented Walt Disney Co in its $71 billion acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc’s film and television assets, bringing the “X-Men,” “Avatar” and “Simpsons” franchises under its banner.

She also represented Facebook in its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram and its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp.

Cole said that given the UK’s exit from the European Union, law firms will need teams who can cover both the EU and UK competition authorities in parallel.

“You need to be able to pivot your capacity in the cases as you do them,” Cole said. US and international law firms have been beefing up their antitrust practices for the past several months.

In April alone, Kirkland & Ellis has hired a former Allen & Overy partner, while Latham & Watkins took on the former leader of the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division.

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