Pat Pascarella has been involved in some of the largest mergers on record and represented clients in antitrust litigations, such as US v. Microsoft, that have shaped the contours of modern antitrust law. He successfully defended clients in the most important Supreme Court antitrust victories in the past twenty years including Bell Atlantic v. Twombly and Pacific Bell v. linkLine.
Prior to joining Bona Law, Pat was Chief Antitrust Counsel at AT&T and served with the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. He was also a partner at two major national law firms, chairing the antitrust and competition law group at one of them.
Because of Pat’s successful track record as a government enforcer and private litigator, he is one of the few private lawyers retained by the California Attorney General’s Office to serve as trial counsel for the government in the prosecution of a high-profile price-fixing case.
In addition to litigation, Pat assists clients in responding to civil and criminal investigations before the DOJ, FTC, and states’ attorneys general, as well as foreign enforcement agencies in Europe, Mexico, and South America. Pat has successfully concluded numerous investigations –one of note being the complete revocation of a billion-dollar fine imposed by the Mexican antitrust authority against América Móvil’s TelCel in an abuse-of-dominance case. He also convinced a US enforcement agency to close an investigation in which statutory penalties for the alleged violations exceeded the net worth of his Fortune 100 client.
Pat regularly advises clients on all manner of business activities, from pricing and distribution to mergers and joint ventures. Pat pioneered the pre-merger planning process that today enables clients to accelerate the post-closing capture of merger efficiencies and has developed antitrust compliance programs for companies of all shapes and sizes.
Pat has represented clients in a multitude of industries including telecommunications and technology, media and entertainment, cryptocurrency, digital platforms, cybersecurity, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, sports, cement, military weapons systems, and ice cream. Pat’s clients have included AT&T, Carlos Slim’s America Movil, Claro, Ericsson, State of Japan, Avery Dennison, Diebold Nixdorf, Olin Corporation, People of the State of California, Pillsbury, and News Corp.