Ilene Knable Gotts
Education
- University of Maryland, B.A. 1980, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. 1984, cum laude
Ilene Knable Gotts
Ilene Knable Gotts is a partner in the New York City law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where she focuses on antitrust matters, particularly relating to mergers and acquisitions. Transactions in which Mrs. Gotts advised include Veolia/Clean Earth, Compass/Anywhere Realty, Danone/Kate Farm, Jazz Pharmaceuticals/Chimerix, OpenAI/IO, Salesforce/Informatica, FIS/GTCR, Arconic/Apollo/Irenic Management, Meritor/Cummins, Creative Artists Agency/ICM Partners, II-VI/Coherent, Zendesk/Permira and Hellman & Friedman, Thoma Bravo/RealPage, Mondelēz/Kitchen Hu, Wesco/Anixter, Simon Property/Taubman, Wex/eNett, Mondelēz/Give &Go, Siris Capital/Travelport, UnitedHealth Group/Davita Medical Group, Publicis Groupe/Epsilon, XO Group/WeddingWire, Siris Capital Group/Travelport Worldwide, IFF/Frutarom, Salesforce/Mulesoft, Prysmian/General Cable, Mondelēz/Tate’s Bake Shop, CenturyLink/Level 3, Danone/WhiteWave Foods, Gaming and Leisure Properties/Pinnacle Entertainment, Faiveley/Wabtec, Charter/Time Warner Cable/Bright House, J.M. Smucker’s/Big Heart Pet Brands, Publicis/Sapient, Essilor/PPG Industries, Deutsche Telekom/MetroPCS, ConAgra/Ralcorp, PPG Industries/Georgia Gulf, Aetna/Coventry, and International Paper/Temple-Inland. Mrs. Gotts is regularly recognized as one of the world’s top antitrust lawyers, including being recognized by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year and MergerLinks as one of the top Antitrust lawyers in 2025; The Deal as a Top Woman in Dealmaking in 2023; Euromoney’s Women in Business Law with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, in the 2006-2025 Editions of The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers as one of the top global competition lawyers, in the first tier ranking of Chambers Guide for over two decades, the “leading individuals” ranking of PLC Which Lawyer Yearbook, the Antitrust Lawyer of the Year for 2016 by Best Lawyers, Top Lawyer of the Year for 2017 by Cablefax, and Number one North America Thought Leader in the 2018 Edition of Who’s Who Legal.
Mrs. Gotts previously worked as a staff attorney in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureaus of Competition and Consumer Protection. She has held several leadership positions in the American Bar Association, including serving on the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors from 2015-2018 and as the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law in 2009-2010. In 2006-2007, Mrs. Gotts was the Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Antitrust Section, which recognized her service to the antitrust bar with the Lifland Service Award in 2010; she has been a member of the American Law Institute for over 25 years. Mrs. Gotts is a frequent guest speaker, has had approximately 200 articles published on antitrust related topics, and served as the editor of the ABA’s Merger Review Process book, Law Business Research’s Private Competition Enforcement Review (2008-2025 Editions) and Law Business Research’s Merger Control Review (2010-2025 Editions). She is a member of the editorial board of The Antitrust Counselor, Antitrust Report, and Competition Law International publications. BTI Consulting Group has recognized Mrs. Gotts as a BTI Client Service All-Star for her level of dedication and commitment to exceptional client service.
Ms. Gotts is currently on the Board of Directors of UrbanGlass, the New York City based nonprofit established in 1977, which fosters experimentation and advances the use and critical understanding of glass as a creative medium.
Select Publications
- The Private Competition Enforcement Review,
in Lexology In-Depth: Private Competition Enforcement Nineteenth Ed. 2026
- Balancing competition and consumer welfare: the evolving landscape of merger remedies,
in Merger Remedies Guide (Law Business Research, Ltd., Sixth Ed. 2025; Fifth Ed. 2023; Fourth Ed. 2021; Third Ed. 2020; Second Ed. 2019; First Ed. 2018).
- Wachtell Lipton Offers Antitrust Insights from the Administration’s First Six Months,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, July 30, 2025 and NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, August 15, 2025.
- A Glance at the Last Year of the Biden Administration’s M&A Antitrust Enforcement and What Might Stick,
in Antitrust Report, May 2025.
- In-Depth Merger Control (I.K. Gotts, Ed.),
Lexology Pro (formerly Law Business Research), London Sixteenth Ed. 2025, (Fifteenth Ed. 2024, Fourteenth Ed. 2023, Thirteenth Ed. 2022, Twelfth Ed. 2021, Eleventh Ed. 2020; Tenth Ed. 2019; Ninth Ed. 2018; Eighth Ed. 2017; Seventh Ed. 2016; Sixth Ed. 2015; Fifth Ed. 2014; Fourth Ed. 2013; Third Ed. 2012; Second Ed. 2011; First Ed. 2010).
- Wachtell Lipton Discusses FTC’s Sweeping Changes to HSR Reporting Obligations,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, October 15, 2024.
- U.S. M&A Antitrust Enforcement: 2023 and the Year Ahead,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, January 22, 2024 and NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, January 31, 2024.
- FTC and DOJ Propose Fundamental Revision of Merger Guidelines,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, July 20, 2023.
- FTC Proposes Sweeping Changes to HSR Reporting Obligations,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, July 6, 2023.
- The Biden Administration Embarks on Aggressive M&A Agenda in 2022,
in Antitrust Report, April 2023.
- Cross-Border M&A - 2023 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 7, 2023.
- Biden Administration Seeks Significant Changes in M&A Antitrust Enforcement from the Outset,
in Antitrust Report, April 2022.
- 2021: A Transition Year That Points to Continued Vigorous Antitrust Enforcement of M&A Transactions,
in Antitrust Report, April 2022.
- Cross-Border M&A – 2022 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, January 22, 2022.
- Introduction,
Eleanor M. Fox: Antitrust Ambassador to the World, 2021.
- Is Change in the Air? U.S. M&A Merger Enforcement During the Last Year of the Trump Administration and What We May See in 2021,
in Antitrust Report, March 2021.
- Territorial Considerations: The US Perspective,
in Private Litigation Guide, Law Business Research, Ltd., Second Ed. 2021.
- All Hands on Deck: Bracing for the "Antitrust" Tech Storm,
October 2020.
- The Private Competition Enforcement Review (I.K. Gotts, Ed.),
(Law Business Research, Ltd., Sixteenth Ed. 2023; Thirteenth Ed. 2020; Twelfth Ed. 2019; Eleventh Ed. 2018; Tenth Ed. 2017; Ninth Ed. 2016; Eighth Ed. 2015; Seventh Ed. 2014; Sixth Ed. 2013; Fifth Ed. 2012; Fourth Ed. 2011; Third Ed. 2010; Second Ed. 2009; First Ed. 2008).
- U.S. M&A Merger Enforcement in the Limelight in FY 2019,
in Antitrust Report, January 2020.
- U.S. M&A Antitrust Enforcement: 2019 and the Year Ahead,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, January 7, 2020.
- Existing U.S. Antitrust Laws Adequately Promote Competition Goals in High Technology Markets,
in Antitrust Report, June 2019.
- Heightened Antitrust Scrutiny Continued in FY2018,
in Antitrust Report, February 2019.
- Cross Border M&A - 2019 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, January 30, 2019.
- WWL Thought Leaders Global Elite,
in Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders Global Elite, 2019 and 2017 eds.
- US Antitrust Enforcement Becomes a Hot Topic for Resolving Broader Concerns,
in TYL Magazine, ABA Young Lawyers Division, October 25, 2018.
- Reading the Tea Leaves: Will Trump Administration Impact Antitrust M&A Enforcement?,
in Antitrust Report, July 2018.
- Back to the Future: Should the "Consumer Welfare" Standard Be Replaced in U.S. M&A Antitrust Enforcement?,
in Antitrust Report, Volume 1, February 2018.
- Merger Control in High-Tech Markets,
in An Antitrust Professor on the Bench: Liber Amicorum (Institute of Competition Law, 2018).
- Mergers and Acquisitions -- 2018 - With a Brief Look Back,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, January 29, 2018.
- Cross-Border M&A -- 2018 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, January 10, 2018.
- Public Interest Considerations in Merger Review,
presentation at the 5th Annual GCR Live in New York, September 28, 2017.
- FY2016: The Obama Administration Wraps Up Eight Years of Rigorous Enforcement,
in Antitrust Report, May 2017.
- Antitrust Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions,
(Bloomberg BNA Corporate Practice Series Portfolio No. 56-4th, 2016).
- U.S. Agencies Continue to Be Tough on Merger Remedies,
in Expert Guides: Best of the Best USA, July 2016.
- U.S. Agencies Take a Tough Approach to Merger Remedies,
in LawyerIssue, June 2015 (http://www.lawyerissue.com).
- Caveat Emptor: Transaction Parties Need to Consider Foreign Investment Laws as Part of Pre-Deal Planning,
in the 41st Annual Proceedings of the Fordham Competition Law Institute, 2015.