Overview
Lisa DeMarchi Sleigh is a Washington, D.C.-based partner in Paul Hastings’ Antitrust & Competition practice. An experienced, well-respected practitioner, Lisa focuses her practice on antitrust advice and counseling, merger clearance, government investigations and antitrust litigation.
Lisa brings a rare vantage point to this work. Her perspective is shaped by her nearly 20 years inside the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where she served as the deputy assistant director of the Mergers I Division, making her uniquely positioned to help clients navigate the evolving regulatory environment. In that role, Lisa supervised an array of merger reviews and antitrust litigation. She reviewed potentially anticompetitive mergers and acquisitions in healthcare-related industries, including branded and generic pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution, medical devices and consumer health products, as well as matters involving scientific, industrial and consumer products. She was also active on transactions in the defense
Lisa’s firsthand understanding of how the FTC evaluates transactions, builds cases for or against a deal, litigates disputes and negotiates remedies provides an exceptional perspective that few practitioners can match. She offers clients unmatched knowledge through all stages of their merger control matters, with particular depth in healthcare, life sciences and defense deals.
Drawing on her experience as a special assistant United States attorney in the Domestic Violence Misdemeanor Section of the Washington, D.C. Attorney’s Office, Lisa maintains an active pro bono practice and has represented domestic violence survivors through the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project, including in proceedings to obtain civil protection orders.
Representations
- In the Matter of Aurobindo Pharma/Lannett – Reached an agreement requiring Aurobindo Pharma to divest four different generic drug products to complete its $250 million acquisition of Lannett.
- FTC v. Edwards Lifesciences and JenaValve Technogy – Challenged Edwards’ proposed acquisition of JenaValve, a maker of transcatheter aortic heart valve devices; obtained a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after a six-day trial based on concerns that the deal would reduce innovation by eliminating competition for a product still being developed.
- In the Matter of Danaher/General Electric – Reached an agreement whereby Danaher agreed to divest assets to settle FTC charges that its proposed $21.4 billion acquisition of General Electric’s biopharmaceutical business, GE Biopharma, would violate federal antitrust law.
- FTC v. IQVIA Holdings and Propel Media – Litigated challenge to IQVIA’s proposed acquisition of Propel Media in the healthcare data and analytics space and was granted a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, after which the parties abandoned the transaction.
- In the Matter of Lockheed Martin/Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings – Challenged Lockheed’s proposed $4.4 billion acquisition of rocket-motor maker Aerojet Rocketdyne on defense-industry vertical foreclosure grounds; the parties abandoned the deal after the FTC sued to block it.
- In the Matter of Fresenius Medical Care/NxStage Medical – Merger of two major hemodialysis-industry players — FTC approved a final consent order imposing divestiture conditions as a part of a settlement resolving charges that Fresenius’s proposed $2 billion acquisition to NxStage likely would be anticompetitive.
- In the Matter of Otto Bock Healthcare North America – Litigated FTC challenge to a consummated acquisition in the prosthetics and orthotics device industry; granted Otto Bock’s application to divest its Freedom Innovations after an administrative law judge’s decision that the merger was anticompetitive.
- DaVita dialysis-chain matters – Obtained consent order requiring the divestiture of 29 outpatient dialysis clinics around the United States, resolving FTC charges that DaVita’s proposed $689 million acquisition of CDSI I Holding Company (DSI) would be anticompetitive.
- CentraCare Health''s purchase of St. Cloud Medical Group Minnesota – Reached a consent agreement allowing the two Minnesota healthcare providers to merge conditioned on one releasing some of its physicians from noncompete-contract clauses.
Matters handled at the FTC prior to joining Paul Hastings.