DOJ -- Antitrust Investigation -- Akin Gump

U.S. Department of Justice
Antitrust Division

GK:JBJ
60-0

December 15, 1993

Gary Freedman
3801 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Apt. 136
Washington, D.C.  20008

Re: Information concerning two law firms

Dear Mr. Freedman:

Your recent letter to Anne Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division, has been referred to me for response.  In your letter, you state that the attorney manager of Akin, Gump Strauss, Hauer & Feld filed fabricated evidence with the District of Columbia Department of Human Rights in connections with the investigation of an unlawful termination matter.  You  also state that Akin, Gump was engaged in merger negotiations with Weil, Gotshal & Manges in 1989, suggesting a possible cooperative relationship between those two firms.  This information, you state, is of "possible ancillary importance" to an antitrust investigation of Dallas law firms' salary practices.

We appreciate you forwarding this information.  These facts do not appear to be relevant to any ongoing investigation by the Antitrust Division, nor do they raise antitrust concerns on their own.  Thank you, however, for your efforts and for your interest in the antitrust law.

Sincerely,

Jon B. Jacobs
Attorney