People
Elaine Johnston
Biography
Elaine previously served as a partner and leader in the firm’s Antitrust practice. She has handled matters in a wide range of industries, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, oil and gas, engineering, banking and financial services, agricultural products, and vitamins.
She has been featured in Chambers USA, BTI Client Service All-Stars, PLC Which Lawyer?, The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers, and Global Competition Review's Women in Antitrust 2025, and received a 2024 Women, Influence & Power in Law Lifetime Achievement Award from Corporate Counsel.
Elaine has an active practice before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) representing merging parties in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, as well as companies in non-merger investigations, and she is particularly experienced in coordinating U.S., European, and other foreign antitrust clearances on complex cross-border deals. Elaine also has an active antitrust litigation practice including representing the Belarusian Potash Company, Experian, Mercuria, and a public petroleum and natural gas company. In addition, she regularly advises companies on business conduct, including worldwide distribution and licensing arrangements, patent pools, information exchanges and benchmarking.
Elaine has been ranked in Chambers USA for more than 20 years.
Elaine is a member of the American Bar Association (Antitrust section) and the New York State Bar Association (former Chair, Antitrust Law section). She previously served as a member of the editorial board of the ABA’s Competition Laws Outside the United States, an associate editor of the Antitrust Law Journal, and a member of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She is a frequent speaker at antitrust conferences and seminars.
Practice areas
- Antitrust
- Antitrust litigation
- Corporate and M&A
Sectors
- Life sciences and healthcare
- Oil and gas
- Financial institutions
- Chemicals
Selected experience
- LPL Financial Holdings Inc. on its USD2.7 billion acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network, the largest privately-held independent U.S. wealth management firm.
- RHI Magnesita on its USD410 million acquisition of Resco, cleared following a DOJ Second Request.
- L'Oréal Groupe on its acquisition of a majority stake in the British premium skincare brand Medik8.
- Advent on its joint venture with LANXESS and EUR3.7 billion deal combining DSM’s and LANXESS’s performance materials businesses.
- DSM on its EUR42 billion merger with Firmenich, a Swiss manufacturer of fragrances and flavors, which required merger filings in 12 jurisdictions across the globe, including the US, EU, Brazil, and China, and was subject to unconditional clearances in all jurisdictions.
- Cargill on its USD440 million acquisition of the North American and European chocolate business of rival ADM which was reviewed and cleared in the U.S. and the EU.
- A private equity firm on its significant minority investment in Special New Fruit Licensing and its acquisition of International Fruit Genetics, both companies active in grape breeding, which was cleared in the U.S. following a DOJ Second Request and, in the EU, following a Phase 1 review.
- Greif, Inc., the NYSE-listed, Ohio-based global industrial packaging company, on its acquisition of Caraustar Industries, a recycled paperboard and packaging solutions company, from H.I.G. Capital, for approximately USD1.8 billion.
Education
- LL.M., University of Michigan Law School, Fulbright Scholar, 1987
- M.A., Cambridge University, 1984
- B.A. honors, Clare College Cambridge, 1980
Admissions
- Registered Foreign Lawyer, England and Wales, 2024 Bar of the State of New York, 1988 Southern District of New York, 1995 Eastern District of New York, 1995
- United States District Courts Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2009
Languages
- English