AT&T, DT and T-Mobile USA recruit top lawyers in bid to overcome antitrust concerns

AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA have amassed an army of former senior government antitrust officials to try to save their US$39 billion deal to combine wireless businesses.

Several of the lawyers who make up the legal dream team for the wireless companies previously worked in top roles at either the US Justice Department’s antitrust division or the Federal Trade Commission’s competition bureau.

Last month the Justice Department sued to block the acquisition of Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA unit, the number four US wireless carrier, by AT&T, which ranks second in the market. The companies hope to settle so the deal can close.

Sprint Nextel, which has filed a separate lawsuit against the deal, hired its own star lawyer – Greg Craig, former White House counsel.