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Joseph J. Simons Biography

Joseph J. Simons

Joe Simons is co-chair of the Antitrust Group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, resident in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Prior to joining the firm, he was the chief antitrust enforcer at the Federal Trade Commission, serving as Director of the Bureau of Competition from June 2001 until August 2003.

In the private sector, Mr. Simons has extensive experience representing clients before the FTC, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Congress in a wide range of antitrust and regulatory matters. In 2000, he was nominated by the Department of Justice, and approved by the Federal Communications Commission and Federal District Court, as trustee of four wireless telephone businesses relating to the GTE/Bell Atlantic/Vodafone transaction. In that capacity, Mr. Simons became the holder of the FCC licenses to these properties, making him the 10th largest wireless carrier in the U.S., and he was responsible for managing and divesting these businesses valued at over $2 billion. He performed a similar role for the Cingular/AT&T transaction.

Mr. Simons has published a wide range of articles on antitrust related topics, including two papers appearing in refereed economics journals, one of which was selected for The Journal of Reprints for Antitrust Law and Economics. Along with a former chief economist of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Mr. Simons developed "Critical Loss Analysis," a technique for market definition that has been adopted and used by both the Antitrust Division, the FTC, and the U.S. Court of Appeals.

 

Updated January 3, 2024