Noah Joshua
Phillips

On the FTC, Mr. Phillips played an integral role in precedent‑setting enforcement actions and regulatory efforts concerning antitrust, consumer protection and privacy. He decided dozens of merger and other antitrust enforcement matters across the economy, including in the consumer product, defense, energy, entertainment, healthcare, technology, pharmaceutical and retail industries. Mr. Phillips’s written antitrust opinions were consistently upheld by federal appellate courts.

On the antitrust advisory front, Mr. Phillips has recently represented:

• Paramount in its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, topping Warner Bros.’ original agreement with Netflix and creating Skydance;
• Wiz in its $32 billion acquisition by Google, the largest-ever deal for a venture capital‑backed startup at the time, per Bloomberg, and the largest‑ever cybersecurity M&A transaction; 
• The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Clearwater Analytics in the $8.4 billion acquisition by a consortium led by Permira and Warburg Pincus;
• Hapag-Lloyd in its over $4 billion pending acquisition of ZIM;
• The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Paramount in the $28 billion merger with Skydance;
• The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of EchoStar in the $26 billion combination with DISH Network;
• Frontier Communications in its $20 billion acquisition by Verizon Communications; 
• Occidental Petroleum in the $9.7 billion sale of OxyChem to Berkshire Hathaway;
• Illumina in its acquisition of SomaLogic;
• Disney in the combination of its Hulu + Live TV business with Fubo, and in ESPN’s strategic alliance with PENN Entertainment to launch ESPN BET;
• HCSC in its $3.3 billion acquisition of Cigna’s Medicare businesses and CareAllies;
• Star Bulk Carriers in its $2.1 billion combination with Eagle Bulk Shipping; 
• The Browser Company, the startup behind the Arc and Dia web browsers, in connection with its $610 million acquisition by Atlassian; and
• Route Mobile and its founding shareholders in the ₹59.22 billion sale of a majority stake in Route Mobile to Proximus Group. 

In addition, Mr. Phillips regularly handles both civil and criminal antitrust investigations. Some of his recent and notable matters in this area include representing:

• a technology company in connection with an investigation by the FTC;
• a public company in connection with a criminal investigation by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ);
• a healthcare software company in an antitrust investigation by the FTC into its business practices;
• a heavy equipment manufacturer in connection with an FTC antitrust investigation;
• Dentsu, a multinational media and digital marketing communications company, in an investigation brought by the FTC alleging anticompetitive behavior in digital advertising markets; and
• a leading media and entertainment company in a DOJ investigation in connection with a joint venture.

On the litigation front, Mr. Phillips is representing Fitness International in litigation brought by the FTC in California federal court, challenging the company’s cancellation procedures for fitness services under the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and the FTC Act. He has also represented Tesla in consolidated putative class action antitrust litigation alleging it monopolized access to parts and services needed to repair its vehicles.

Clients describe Mr. Phillips as an “amazing strategic adviser” with a “deep understanding of the antitrust environment,” earning him recognition from Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US and The Best Lawyers in America for his work in both antitrust litigation and antitrust merger control. He has also been named a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation and Lawdragon has included him in several of its lists, including “500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers,” “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.”

Mr. Phillips speaks and writes frequently on a range of topics, including antitrust, consumer protection, and privacy issues, as well as the evolving AI landscape and the various risks that might be addressed through enforcement and regulation. In addition, in his role as an FTC Commissioner, he frequently testified before Congress and represented the FTC before international bodies, including the G7, the Competition Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners.

Prior to the FTC, Mr. Phillips served as Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He advised Senator Cornyn on a variety of legal and policy issues, as well as judicial nominations.

Mr. Phillips received an A.B. magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 2000, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2005. He began his career at a New York-based investment bank. After law school, Mr. Phillips clerked for Hon. Edward C. Prado of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and joined Cravath’s Litigation Department in 2006. He left the Firm in 2010, and he rejoined Cravath as a partner in December 2022.