The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers - Competition
Tefft W. Smith is the senior partner-in-charge of Kirkland & Ellis' 110-person antitrust and competition law practice group, with offices in Washington, London, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Tefft is a trial lawyer with 30 years of civil and criminal antitrust and merger trial experience. He has been the lead trial lawyer in government criminal and class action price-fixing cases (including the ADM-related citric acid and Vitamin criminal cases and follow-on class action litigation and the SOS Soap Pad cases), in civil antitrust cases for Bayer AG, Kraft, Whirlpool, Weyerhaeuser, BP-Amoco, BellSouth, Chiquita, Sara Lee, Terra and other major US-based companies. Tefft has managed dozens of sensitive mergers and acquisitions through the government clearance process for these same and numerous other major companies, including General Motors, SC Johnson Wax, Dean Foods and FMC. Tefft has tried six high-profile merger cases in federal court, and is currently lead trial counsel for MSC Software defending against an FTC challenge to two consummated mergers, allegedly giving MSC monopoly power in a software category, set for trial in the summer of 2002. Tefft has expedited the clearance of numerous multinational transactions, requiring coordination of EU, Member State, and other national filings and clearances. Tefft has tried and argued cases before judges and juries throughout the United States, including the United States Supreme Court.
Tefft is a member of the BNA Antitrust and Trade Regulation Reporter advisory board, has been an officer of the American Bar Association (ABA) Antitrust Law and Litigation Sections and their Sherman Act, Mergers and Acquisition, Antitrust Litigation and Corporate Counsel Subcommittees, and regularly speaks at ABA and other programmes on competition and antitrust law and trial practice related matters. Tefft has written many articles, including: `An Analysis of US Antitrust Law and Enforcement Regarding Foreign Cartel Activity,' `Dealings with Competitors: The Traps and How to Avoid Them Challenging Competitors,' `Mergers: A Real Strategic Option,' `Seller Beware: Alerting the Seller to the Risks of an Antitrust Sensitive Deal,' and `The Use and Misuse of Economic Experts.'
Founded in 1908, Kirkland & Ellis has grown to over 800 legal professionals and is one of the largest full-service law firms in the world, with a long-standing and loyal base of significant clients, engaged in industries as varied as the internet (American Online/AOL), computers (Hitachi), electronics/technology (Motorola, Honeywell), telecoms (Verizon, BellSouth), oil and gas (BP Amoco), automotive (General Motors, Siemens, Navistar), transportation (United Air Lines), venture capital (Bain Capital), banking (Bank of America), healthcare (Blue Cross Blue Shield), chemicals and allied products (Bayer, Dow Chemicals), food products (Kraft, Sara Lee, Chiquita, Hershey), pharmaceuticals (Abbott, Barr Laboratories, Alpharma), tobacco (Brown & Williamson), defence (Raytheon/Hughes Electronics), household goods (SC Johnson Wax) and finance (Morgan Stanley Dean Witter). Every year since 1995, The National Law Journal's survey of `Who Represents Corporate America' has ranked Kirkland & Ellis among the top five most frequently used firms.
