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Hill Wellford
Hill Wellford
Partner — Antitrust
Partner — Antitrust

Hill Wellford

Hill Wellford
Washington, D.C.

2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 500 West
Washington, D.C. 20037

start quote symbolI work with creative people, risk-takers. When their moonshots succeed, they draw antitrust attention. To counsel and advocate for them, I first have to learn about the ways in which they are changing whole industries – that’s fascinating to me.end quote symbol
Hill Wellford

Experience Highlights

  • CrownRock L.P. in its $12 billion acquisition by Occidental Petroleum Corp.

  • Denbury Inc., a provider of CO2 pipelines and carbon capture services, in its $4.9 billion acquisition by Exxon Mobil Corp.

  • Quantum Energy Partners in its $5.2 billion sale of THQ Appalachia I Midco, LLC (“Tug Hill”) and THQ-XcL Holdings I Midco, LLC (“XcL Midstream”) to EQT Corporation

  • Global Partners in its acquisition of multiple northeastern United States petroleum terminal complexes from Gulf Oil, Inc.

  • Brookfield Renewable in its $1 billion acquisition of Scout Clean Energy

  • DigitalReef in its merger with Gamers Club

  • Altamont Energy, LLC in its acquisition by XCL Resources Holdings, LLC, which received the first FTC “prior approval” for an oil and gas transaction

  • Focus Financial in its $7 billion acquisition by Clayton, Dubilier and Rice

  • HighRidge Resources, Inc. in the sale of its subsidiary FlexSteel Technologies Holdings, Inc. to a newly formed subsidiary of Cactus, Inc.

  • John Hancock in the sale of its interests in Texas Nevada Transmission, LLC to HICL Infrastructure PLC

  • MN8 Energy in its agreement with Mercedes-Benz and ChargePoint to create a new EV charging network

  • Enable Midstream in its $7.2 billion merger with Energy Transfer

  • Google LLC in its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, Inc.

  • KKR in the $5.7 billion merger between Independence Energy and Contango to form Crescent Energy Company

  • Switchback Energy Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC sponsored by an affiliate of NGP Energy Capital Management, in its $2.4 billion business combination with ChargePoint, a leading electric vehicle charging network

  • EVgo Services, a portfolio company of LS Power and an electric vehicle public fast charging network, in its $2.6 billion business combination with Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC

  • Tortoise Acquisition Corp. II in its $1.4 billion business combination with Volta Industries, an industry leader in commerce-centric electric vehicle charging networks

  • Switchback II Corporation, a SPAC sponsored by an affiliate of NGP Energy Capital Management, in its $2.3 billion business combination with Bird Rides, a leader in shared short range environmentally friendly electric transportation

  • Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC, in its $1.4 billion business combination with Navitas Semiconductor, the industry leader in Gallium nitride power ICs

  • Spartan Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC sponsored by funds managed by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, in its $1.3 billion business combination with Sunlight Financial, a premier U.S. residential solar financing platform

  • Sunpro Solar, a residential solar company, in its $865 million sale to ADT

  • TPG Growth and The Rise Fund in their majority investment in Greenhouse, a hiring software company

  • Data Foundry, Inc., a carrier-neutral colocation and data center provider, in its $420 million sale to Switch, Inc.

  • Liberty Oilfield Services in its acquisition of Schlumberger’s onshore hydraulic fracturing business

  • The Carlyle Group in a USD $374 million investment in Amp Solar Group, a global energy transition platform, to support the growth of both Amp’s asset base and Amp X, a proprietary digital energy platform, within its core markets of North America, Japan, Australia, Iberia and the UK

  • Blackstone in its acquisition of Sabre Industries from The Jordan Company

  • CLEAResult Consulting, Inc., a leader in designing and implementing technology-enabled energy efficiency programs for utilities, in its acquisition of technology and affiliates

  • DigitalBridge in its acquisition of a controlling stake in Vertical Bridge Holdings, the largest private owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure in the U.S.

  • Representation of US financial company in obtaining favorable Business Review Letter from the DOJ Antitrust Division, approving new products and business plans 

  • Representation of Japanese auto parts company in cartel investigation by the DOJ Antitrust Division 

Credentials

  • University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1995
  • Dartmouth College, B.A., 1992
  • U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division: Chief of Staff; Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General; investigator; trial lawyer; counsel in the Legal Policy Section; 2003–2009
  • Clerkship to Judge Richard L. Williams of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 1995–1996
  • Recognized, U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers 2017 Practice Group of the Year for Antitrust Law, Law360 2018 Practice Group of the Year for Antitrust
  • Chambers USA, Antitrust Litigation (District of Columbia), 2011–2019; Antitrust (District of Columbia), 2020–2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), (Washington):  Litigation–Antitrust, 2016–2018, 2020–2023; Antitrust Law, 2016–2018, 2020–2025
  • Legal 500 U.S., Antitrust: Cartel 2019–2024; Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense, 2020, and 2022-2024; Antitrust: Merger Control 2017 and 2019–2024
  • Selected to the 500 Leading Litigators in America, Lawdragon, 2023 and 2024
  • Selected to the Washington D.C. Super Lawyers list, Super Lawyers® (Thomson Reuters), 2019–2024
  • JD Supra Reader’s Choice Awards, Top Author – Antitrust & Trade Regulation, 2023
  • Co-chair: ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Dominance Divergence Task Force
  • Former Council Member: ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Governing Council
  • Life Fellow: American Bar Foundation
  • Member: American Bar Association, Antitrust Section
  • Member: American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • Top Secret and Restricted Data (Atomic Energy) Security Clearances (issued 2007)
  • District of Columbia, Virginia, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeal, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • Big Data, Privacy, and Antitrust” (video link), Institutio Brasileiro de Direito Empresarial (Ibrademp), June 29, 2022 (panelist)
  • “Aviation Focus: Algorithmic Pricing and Recent Enforcements,” 2019 Antitrust Texas Summit, September 24, 2019 (panelist)
  • “Trade Association Antitrust Compliance: Safety in Numbers?” Antitrust Law 2019 Spring Meeting, March 27, 2019 (panelist)
  • “FTC Updates Guidance on Premerger Due Diligence and Negotiations (Sharing But Not Oversharing),” Energy Series, V&E Houston Office, June 13, 2018 (speaker)
  • “Competition Developments in Brazil the US and EU – What Brazilian Counsel and Companies Need to Know,” July 13, 2018 (speaker)