Lowenstein Sandler LLP continues to expand its team providing M&A counsel to private equity, hedge fund, venture capital and other clients with the addition of Jack Sidorov as a Senior Counsel in the Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice, resident in the firm's Washington, DC office. Mr. Sidorov joins the firm after a 36-year career at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he served since the early 1980s as the Antitrust Division's primary expert on premerger notification law, procedures, and policies under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act of 1976.

Jack played a leading role in roughly 50 civil penalty compliance cases brought by the Department under the HSR Act, working to develop and articulate the legal theories underlying these cases, up to and including DOJ's recent case settling gun-jumping claims against Flakeboard and SierraPine, companies in the particleboard industry. The settlement required the companies to pay a combined $3.8 million in civil penalties for violating the HSR Act, and further required Flakeboard to disgorge an additional $1.15 million in illegally obtained profits for violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

As the Antitrust Division's resident expert, Jack provided HSR-related advice to the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust and throughout the Division, and worked on all HSR rulemakings since 1983 including rules promulgating HSR exemptions (1996), implementing legislative changes to the HSR Act (2002), revising the HSR treatment of partnerships and limited liability companies (2005), and substantial changes to the HSR Form designed to improve the utility of the Form to the FTC and DOJ while reducing burden on filing parties (2011).

Gary M. Wingens, Lowenstein Sandler's chairman and managing partner, said, "This year has been exceptionally busy for our transactional practices. We've seen strong gains in our private equity, M&A, hedge fund and venture capital practices, and our recruiting strategy is aimed at deepening the comprehensive legal services we provide clients in these core areas. Jack is a fantastic addition to our team. His peerless knowledge of Hart-Scott-Rodino will be an invaluable asset to our many clients who must navigate antitrust review of their strategic transactions. And we are excited to add a member to our new Washington office, which is off to a very strong start."

Jeffrey Blumenfeld, Chair of the Firm's Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice, said, "I've known Jack since we worked together on the AT&T divestiture case. No one can match his understanding of HSR; our clients will see that immediately. And his long tenure at DOJ will support our local growth as we continue to recruit and expand in this critically important market."

Mr. Sidorov said, "I am thrilled to be joining such a talented group of attorneys. They have strong momentum driving the tremendous growth of their transactional practice over the last few years, and they represent a number of very impressive clients. I am looking forward to brining my many years of HSR and antitrust experience at the Antitrust Division of the DOJ to such a wonderful practice to help serve their clients."

Mr. Sidorov earned his J.D., magna cum laude, at Harvard Law School and received a B.A. in Quantitative Studies (economics) from Johns Hopkins University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.

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