Michael Byowitz is a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, focusing his practice on antitrust law and policy, and principally advising multinational corporations on major domestic and international mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate takeovers. He represents many clients at the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and State Attorneys General in the United States and consults on investigations by foreign antitrust authorities in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and many other countries. Major matters in which he has served as lead antitrust counsel include for Maytag Corporation in its acquisition by Whirlpool Corporation, Wal-Mart in its defense to a challenge by Puerto Rico's Secretary of Justice of its acquisition of Supermercados Amigo that involved litigation in both federal and commonwealth courts, Wal-Mart in its effort to acquire Safeway plc in the United Kingdom, Reynolds Metals in its acquisition by Alcoa Corporation, and many others.

Michael Byowitz represents the more than 23,000 members of the American Bar Association Section of International Law in the ABA House of Delegates, served as Chair of the Section in 2005-2006, and is a former Chair of three of the Section’s Divisions (Business Regulation, Public International Law and General Division), as well as a former Chair of the Section’s International Antitrust Law Committee. Mr. Byowitz is a Member of the Executive Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and previously served as Chair of the City Bar’s Council on International Affairs (2006-2009) and as Chair of its Antitrust & Trade Regulation Committee (1998-2001). Mr. Byowitz is New York State Co-Chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, and has been elected an honorary lifetime member of AIJA (the International Young Lawyers Association).

Mr. Byowitz writes articles on antitrust issues and is a contributor to legal publications, including the international antitrust law chapter of the ABA’s The International Lawyer's Deskbook. He is a frequent speaker on antitrust law and compliance in the United States and abroad. Mr. Byowitz is consistently ranked among the leading antitrust specialists in peer review rankings such as Global Competition Review, Who’s Who Legal, Super Lawyers and many others.

Mr. Byowitz received an A.B. degree in 1973 from Columbia College and a J.D. in 1976 from New York University School of Law, where he was awarded the Order of the Coif and served as an editor of the Law Review. Before joining Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 1983, Mr. Byowitz served as a Trial Attorney and Senior Trial Attorney at the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice. He is admitted to the bar in New York (1983) and Washington, D.C. (1976).