Courtesy photo

Juan Arteaga, Partner, Crowell & Moring

Q: What are some of your proudest recent achievements?

A: About a year ago, I joined Crowell & Moring's premier antitrust group after serving as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. Since joining Crowell's top-notch team, I have had an opportunity to represent a number of leading multinational corporations in high-stakes government investigations and “bet-the-company” litigation. Most prominently, I was part of the Crowell team that successfully represented AT&T in connection with its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. We served as AT&T's co-lead antitrust counsel during the DOJ's investigation and were part of the trial team that defeated the DOJ's challenge to the transaction. The trial victory that we helped secure on behalf of AT&T resulted in a landmark 172-page decision that many antitrust experts and commentators have predicted will have significant precedential value for decades. Having the opportunity to work on such a historic matter with great lawyers on both sides has been a true career highlight. And, I could not be prouder of our team's performance. Throughout this multi-year engagement, our team lived up to the legal profession's highest standards, both in terms of the quality of work that it produced and the way in which it conducted itself.

I am also extraordinarily proud of my public service with the DOJ during the Obama administration. Between 2013 and 2017, I was part of the senior leadership team for the DOJ's Antitrust Division and helped lead some of the most important and complex antitrust investigations and litigation in recent history. Working hand-in-hand with the Antitrust Division's dedicated and extremely talented career lawyers and economists, our team was able to secure several significant victories on behalf of the American public, including blocking over 20 anticompetitive mergers, prosecuting hundreds of companies and executives for criminal antitrust violations, and collecting billions in fines.

Q: What does it mean to be a leader?

A: An effective leader is someone who can:

• Clearly articulate a vision and implement a plan to achieve that vision;
• Inspire his/her team through his/her words and actions;
• Establish a culture that demands professionalism, integrity, and collegiality;
• Position his/her team members to succeed by investing in their development and providing them with the right opportunities and resources; and
• Recruit and retain highly talented teams whose members feel valued and empowered to express differing views and to be innovative.

Q: Name a lawyer or mentor whose leadership inspired you.

A: Two lawyers whose leadership has inspired me are Chief Judge Roger Gregory of the Fourth Circuit (for whom I clerked) and Bill Baer (who led the Antitrust Division during my time at the DOJ). Through their words and deeds, Chief Judge Gregory and Bill gave their teams the opportunities and confidence to achieve their full potential and reminded them that there can be no greater honor as a lawyer than using your legal skills to serve the public and promote justice.

Q: How are the business and profession of law changing, and how should lawyers adapt for the future?

A: In recent years, many Fortune 100 companies and financial institutions have begun demanding that law firms not only staff their matters with female and diverse attorneys but that these attorneys play prominent roles. To show that they mean business, these clients have shifted business away from and/or discounted the fees they pay firms that cannot meet this requirement. Thus, law firms that lack gender and racial/ethnic diversity at all levels will increasingly find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. At Crowell, we take great pride in our ability to offer clients deeply talented and diverse teams from the senior partner to the junior associate level and have been repeatedly recognized as innovative leaders in the diversity and inclusion area.

Q: What is the best advice for someone considering a career in law, or someone already in the profession who is seeking to make a greater impact?

For lawyers seeking to have a greater impact, I would encourage them to make public service and pro bono work a key part of their legal career. The types of cases you handle as a government lawyer or pro bono lawyer allow you to have a profound impact on the lives of your clients and their families, as well bring about the type of systematic and long-lasting change that can make our society more fair and just for everyone.