Sara Y. Razi is Global Co-Chair of the Firm’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice. She is a leading antitrust attorney focusing on merger reviews and clearance, government antitrust investigations, antitrust litigation, and counseling on competition issues.
She regularly represents clients before the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and handles matters involving antitrust reviews and litigation in multiple jurisdictions. Since joining Simpson Thacher from the FTC in 2013, she has secured clearances in complex and closely-watched matters.
Sara’s extensive private-sector and government antitrust experience spans a multitude of industries including technology, media, telecommunications, supermarkets and other retail, oil and gas, consumer products, healthcare providers, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical devices.
Sara is recognized by The Legal 500 as a “Leading Lawyer,” and by Chambers USA. Sources describe her as “a very seasoned and knowledgeable antitrust attorney” who is “very effective with the agencies,” who “has the unique ability to give very practical advice about how regulators would react to matters in a way that is actionable by in house counsel,” with “extensive knowledge of agency strategy,” and that she is “especially persuasive” and “a pleasure to work with.” In 2023, The Deal named Sara among the “Top Women in Dealmaking” for helping guide Change Healthcare through a DOJ antitrust challenge to its $13.8 billion combination with UnitedHealth Group. Featured as one of Global Competition Review’s 2021 “Women in Antitrust” and separately described by the publication as one of the “best FTC merger advisers in the business,” Sara is also ranked as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in the U.S. by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation. In addition, Sara is recognized by Who’s Who Legal: Competition. She has been a featured speaker or panelist at dozens of conferences and events sponsored by the ABA Antitrust Section, American Health Lawyers Association, and other organizations. Sara is a Board Member of the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee.
Sara served in senior roles at the FTC for nearly a decade. As Deputy Assistant Director, she directed numerous antitrust investigations and litigation challenges during a time of reinvigorated healthcare merger enforcement and served as a lead litigator in federal district courts and administrative hearings. As Attorney Advisor to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, she advised on a wide range of antitrust investigations, litigation and policy matters, with emphasis on energy, healthcare, technology and intellectual property issues.
Sara earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from American University, Washington College of Law, and her B.A. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from the University of Colorado.
Updated Aug 2023
