Overview

Shaoul is a Partner and Co-Founder of the firm and a seasoned antitrust practitioner with extensive experience in private and government practice.

Most recently, Shaoul served as the Associate Director for Litigation in the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission. During his tenure, he oversaw the Bureau’s expansive litigation portfolio, focusing on strategic case development and successful outcomes. During his time in the Bureau’s Front Office, Shaoul worked on several high-profile and complex cases including the Kroger-Albertsons merger challenge, which addressed consolidation in the retail grocery sector, and the FTC’s lawsuit to unwind Illumina's acquisition of Grail in the Fifth Circuit, the first successful challenge to a vertical merger in 40 years. Additionally, Shaoul played an instrumental role in the FTC’s landmark monopolization case against Meta.

Apart from his litigation work at FTC, Shaoul played a pivotal role in shaping the FTC and DOJ 2023 Merger Guidelines, which introduced new measures aimed at addressing market consolidation and modernizing merger enforcement standards to reflect contemporary market realities and economics. Shaoul led the efforts to reform the premerger notification process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. These reforms, which came into effect in 2025, included significant updates to streamline filing procedures, improve transparency, and strengthen regulatory oversight to ensure compliance with evolving antitrust laws. Shaoul also led the drafting of several amicus briefs filed by the U.S. government in landmark antitrust cases, including the FTC’s amicus brief during the remedy phase of the Epic v. Google case, which was cited favorably by the court.

Shaoul previously served as Attorney Advisor to former FTC Chair Lina Khan. Prior to his roles at the FTC, Shaoul was in private practice and served as a legal fellow at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Shaoul holds a J.D. from Fordham University and a B.A. from Bard College Berlin.

Shaoul also serves as a Senior Advisor at Columbia Law School, where he focuses on academic antitrust research, exploring innovative approaches to competition policy, and modern market dynamics.

Selected Speaking Engagements

Panelist, Steptoe Sixth Annual Regulatory Symposium, May 2025

Panelist, Antiheros? FTC Section 5 & Section 2, 2025 Antitrust Spring Meeting, April 2025

Panelist, Clearing the Pre-Merger Hurdle: Second Requests and HSR, WSJ Modern GC Series, June 2024

Panelist, The 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines: A Review, The “2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines” conference organized by Concurrences, April 2024

Panelist, A Survey of Big Tech Enforcement, From Consolidation to Monopolization, NYSBA Annual Meeting, January 2024

Panelist, At Last, The Ultimate Merger Guidelines?, 2023 Bill Kovacic Antitrust Salon, September 2023

Panelist, University of Chicago Antitrust and Competition Conference - Beyond the Consumer Welfare Standard?, April 2023

Publications

Sussman S (2020) Prime Predator: Amazon and the Rationale of Below Average Variable Cost Pricing Strategies Among Negative-Cash Flow Firms. J. Antitrust Enforce. Volume 7, Issue 2, July 2019, Pages 203–219, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaenfo/jnz002

Bars and Courts

New York State Bar