Biography • Competition

Mr Harty, a partner in Davis Polk's litigation department, provides general antitrust counselling to US and non-US companies and represents clients in enforcement agency investigations, domestic and cross-border acquisitions and joint ventures, and litigations.

Significant representations include HJ Heinz in its acquisition by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway; ConAgra in its acquisition of Ralcorp; CNOOC Limited in its proposed acquisition of Nexen, Inc; Daikin Industries Ltd, in its acquisition of air conditioner manufacturer Goodman Global Inc; National Express in its acquisition of Petermann Inc; VF Corporation in its acquisition of Timberland; Comcast in its joint venture with NBCUniversal; PepsiCo in its acquisition of its anchor bottlers; the Kingdom of Sweden in the sale of Absolut Vodka and other brands to Pernod Ricard; Gillette in its acquisition by Procter & Gamble; FirstGroup in its acquisition of the school bus services business of Laidlaw; CVS in its acquisitions of Eckerd Drugs, Revco and Arbor Drugs and its acquisition of Albertson's freestanding drug stores; Emerson Electric in numerous acquisitions; Gibson Greetings in connection with its acquisition by American Greetings; Hoffmann-La Roche in its acquisitions of Genentech, Syntex and Boehringer Mannheim, the divestiture of its vitamins business to DSM, and its tender offer for Illumina; Zeneca in litigation against Monsanto relating to genetically modified seeds, and with respect to Zeneca's merger with Astra AB, and the formation of Syngenta, the company that combines the agrochemicals businesses of AstraZeneca and Novartis; and the merger of JP Morgan and Chase Manhattan.

Mr Harty is listed as a leading lawyer in several legal industry publications, including Chambers Global and Chambers USA; The Legal 500 US; Practical Law Company's Which Lawyer? and Cross-border Competition Handbook; Legal Media Group's Benchmark Litigation and Expert Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers - Best of the Best US; Law Business Research's The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers; and Best Lawyers in America.

Mr Harty was twice recognised by Global Competition Review as one of the '40 Under 40' leading antitrust lawyers in the world. Davis Polk's antitrust group was also named 'Law Firm of the Year' in Antitrust Law by US News - Best Lawyers 'Best Law Firms' (2013) and a "Competition Group of the Year" for 2011 by Law360.

Mr Harty is vice chair of the mergers and acquisitions committee and a member of the antitrust law section of the American Bar Association; member of the editorial board for Matthew Bender's publication Antitrust Report; and chairman of the board of trustees of the Packer Collegiate Institute.

He previously served as co-chair of both the International Bar Association's antitrust committee and the international committee of the American Bar Association's antitrust law section. Previous memberships also include council member of the International Bar Association's legal practice division and editorial board member for the ABA antitrust section's Antitrust Law Developments (fifth edition). Mr Harty was also editorial co-chair of the 2002 Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments for the ABA antitrust law section.

Mr Harty joined Davis Polk as an associate in 1986, and was promoted to partner in 1994. In 1991, he was an assistant in the cabinet of Sir Leon Brittan, vice president of the European Commission Responsible for Competition Policy. He is admitted to the State of New York; the US District Court, ED, New York; and the US District Court, SD, New York. He graduated from University College, Dublin in 1984 (BCL, first-class honours) and the University of Michigan Law School in 1986 (LLM).