A. Paul Victor has been a mentor and friend for more than forty years. He was an established leader of the U.S. and international antitrust defense bars when I joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges in 1977. One of the first cases we worked on together was the landmark Zenith v. Matsushita litigation, and it would be seven years before the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of our client Matsushita (now Panasonic). Those seven years were an incredible education for me in every facet of antitrust law and litigation, and Paul was one of my best teachers, along with our common mentor, antitrust legend Ira Millstein.

From the 1960's through the 1980's, Paul had the unique distinction of being equally versed in both antitrust and trade law. This made him one of the rare practitioners who could handle these two diverse, and somewhat contradictory, areas equally well. When the criminal side of antitrust picked up in the 90's with the advent of the Department of Justice's leniency program, Paul reinvented himself, seized the initiative and quickly became one of the top criminal antitrust lawyers in the country. Today, he is widely known as “Dean of the Cartel Bar.” With an indefatigable career spanning more than 50 years, Paul has defended some of the most important cartel investigations around the globe and scored crucial victories for major corporations and individuals in criminal and civil cartel cases. He has been an inspiration to me in my own career, and our professional and personal lives have long been intertwined.

After graduating from Michigan Law School in 1963, Paul spent three years with the Justice Department's Antitrust Division in Washington, D.C. As a young lawyer, he learned on his feet—arguing cases, working on legislative matters, and writing appellate briefs. During his tenure at the DOJ, he joined forces with Assistant Solicitor General Richard Posner in 1966 to write the winning brief for the landmark Von's Grocery Supreme Court case.

Following his time with the Justice Department, Paul joined Kirkland, Ellis & Rowe in Washington, D.C., where he met his first mentor, Frederick Rowe. Alongside Rowe, Paul tried another high-profile case, this time defending the Seeberg Corporation and its purchase of competitor Cavalier.

Paul returned to his native New York in 1968 and joined Weil Gotshal, quickly becoming co-counsel with Ira Millstein on the Matsushita litigation. I became a partner during the life of Matsushita, and when the Supreme Court ruled in our favor, it was a thrill for all of us, both because it took more than a decade of litigation for our client to get this victory, but also because it set a precedent for the application of summary judgment to antitrust conspiracy cases that is the governing standard to this day. During this time, Paul also became known as a leader of the international trade bar, seamlessly moving from antitrust to trade cases and back again without missing a beat, including a jury trial victory for Panasonic in a conspiracy case brought by Go-Video—a case which most other defendants settled.

In 1995, Paul was retained to represent a Japanese company in the famous Lysine price-fixing investigation, which inspired the movie “The Informant.” Since 1995, Paul has travelled the world in coordinating the defense of global cartel investigations, becoming known throughout the international defense bar for his insightful legal analysis, good humor, and love of an occasional vodka.

In 2006, Paul retired from Weil Gotshal and joined me at Dewey Ballantine. Six years later, we both led a group of over seventy lawyers to Winston, where he has continued to do exactly what he has done over his entire career—provide the best possible advice to his clients with relentless dedication and personal care. Now almost 80 years young, he still wakes up every morning thinking about his cases, ready to mentor a new generation of lawyers and leading by example.

One of the examples Paul has set is dedication to the profession. His involvement with the ABA spans five decades and includes a term as vice chair of the Antitrust Section. He is also chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, a lower-cost law school geared toward students making a mid-life career change. Paul has also served as an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School for 11 years; today, he teaches International Cartel Enforcement at his beloved alma mater, Michigan.

Among Paul's most important legacies is his bridge building across the global legal landscape. In the 1970s, he was instrumental in establishing a program that enabled Japanese firms to send select lawyers to intern in the U.S. That breakthrough program has followed him from Weil to Dewey to Winston.

I'll always be grateful for what Paul has taught me. But I am most grateful for his friendship and his introducing me to his lovely wife Ellen and his wonderful family. No matter how busy he has been, Paul has always put his family first. Paul Victor: a giant of antitrust law, an international trailblazer and a great family man.

Jeffrey L. Kessler is co-executive chairman & co-chair antitrust/competition & sports law practices at Winston & Strawn.