William C. MacLeod Esq.

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Macleod, William C.

William MacLeod is a Partner in Kelley Drye & Warren LLP's Washington, D.C., and Chicago offices and Chair of the Antitrust and Competition practice group. A former Bureau Director at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Mr. MacLeod focuses his practice on competition law, trade regulation, advertising, privacy and security.

Mr. MacLeod guides domestic and international corporations through investigations, approvals and challenges of mergers and acquisitions. He has obtained FTC and Antitrust Division clearance of numerous acquisitions and joint ventures in a range of industries, including medical devices, grocery products, defense contracting and steel manufacturing. Mr. MacLeod also has assisted clients with protecting interests threatened by consolidation in industries ranging from accounting to travel services, and has served as special counsel for a government investigation of one of the world’s largest manufacturing mergers.

Mr. MacLeod represents companies in advertising, antitrust and intellectual property disputes before the state and federal courts, the FTC and the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. His notable cases include one of the largest judgments ever awarded in an advertising and antitrust case, the FTC's first trial under the modern unfairness doctrine, and the FTC's first preliminary injunction action in an ad-substantiation case.

In addition, Mr. MacLeod counsels and defends companies and trade associations on pricing, advertising, distribution, intellectual property licensing and competitor relations. In his work with trade associations and their members, he has fought onerous regulations and advocated sensible policies on competition, biotechnology, health and privacy. In his work on privacy and security, he has defended the practices of major retailers, manufacturers and financial companies.  Mr. MacLeod received his B.A. from Ripon College and his J.D. from the University of Miami.

He is the author of Bloomberg BNA Corporate Practice Portfolio Series No. 32-4th, Trade Associations & Antitrust Laws.  This portfolio volume summarizes the Sherman, Clayton and Federal Trade Commission acts as they apply to trade associations. It further analyzes those aspects of antitrust law most likely to be applied to trade association activity, including such subjects as price fixing, statistical reporting programs, membership restrictions and the availability of association services to nonmembers, codes of ethics and disciplinary proceedings, standardization and certification programs, joint research projects, lobbying and group buying.