Deborah Garza

Deborah Garza is co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Consumer Law Practice Group. With more than 25 years of experience in both the private and public sectors, Ms. Garza has been involved in some of the largest antitrust matters in the last twenty years, including the merger of Exxon and Mobil, the U.S. Government’s suit against Microsoft, the USFL suit against the NFL, and many other litigation and regulatory matters on behalf of Fortune 500 companies and government-sponsored enterprises and agencies.

Ms. Garza practices in all areas of antitrust law, counseling clients on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution practices, and legislative matters and representing clients in complex litigation and in civil and criminal government investigations before state, federal, and international antitrust and regulatory agencies. She also counsels and represents clients on data security and advertising matters before the Federal Trade Commission.

Ms. Garza joined Covington in 2009 from the Justice Department, where she served as Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. From May 2007 through November 2008, Ms. Garza was Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Regulatory Affairs, overseeing matters in the telecommunications, transportation, energy, health care, agricultural, insurance, broadcast radio, real estate, and other industries. During two prior tours of service during the 1980s, Ms. Garza served as a Special Assistant and as Chief of Staff as Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. During her time with the Justice Department, Ms. Garza was involved in a number of significant enforcement matters and in the development and articulation of enforcement policy.

In 2004, Ms. Garza was appointed by President George W. Bush to chair the Antitrust Modernization Commission (“AMC”), a bi-partisan blue-ribbon panel created by Congress to study and report to the President and Congress on the state of antitrust enforcement in the United States. After three years of hearings and deliberations, the Commission issued its recommendation in April 2007, along with a comprehensive, 427-page report. The Report -- which broadly covers the antitrust landscape, from merger process to litigation reform, intellectual property related issues, substantive standards applied to alleged monopolization, and immunities and exemptions – has been widely praised for providing a critical framework for policy discussion going forward.

Ms. Garza is a frequent commentator on antitrust issues. She has testified before Congress regarding the AMC Report and, at the invitation of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, recently testified on antitrust enforcement in bank consolidations, see Statement of Deborah A. Garza before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, Oversight Hearing on “Too Big to Fail?: The Role of Antitrust Law in Government-Funded Consolidation in the Banking Industry.” Ms. Garza has also served since 2001 as a non-governmental advisor to the International Competition Network, an informal network of all of the world’s competition authorities formed to foster convergence to best practices in antitrust enforcement globally.

In private practice, Ms. Garza has represented clients in a broad range of industries, including the pharmaceutical, financial services, software, health care, defense, airline, mining, oil and gas, nuclear, electricity, telecommunications, cable, radio, alcoholic beverages, consumer products, industrial products, and sports industries.

Ms. Garza has been a leader in the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association and currently serves as a member of the Section Council. In 2005, she helped found the Diversity Network, a collaboration of Washington, DC, law firms to provide networking opportunities and access to community leaders for lawyers of diverse backgrounds.

Honors and Rankings
Washington, DC Super Lawyers, - Antitrust Litigation (2007-2009)
The National Law Journal, “50 Most Influential Women in America” (2007)
Chambers USA - America's Leading Business Lawyers, Antitrust (2007)
The National Law Journal, “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” (2006)

Memberships and Affiliations
American Bar Association
Federalist Society

Practices
Antitrust & Consumer Law
Intellectual Property
Litigation
– Administrative Litigation
– Appellate Litigation/Supreme Court
Practice
– Class Actions
White Collar Defense & Investigations
Communications & Media
Energy
Financial Institutions
Global Privacy & Data Security
International
Industries
Financial Services
Health Care
Life Sciences
Responding to the Global Financial
Crisis
Software & Technology
Transportation
Education
The University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1981
Northern Illinois University, B.S., 1978
Bar Admissions
District of Columbia