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Nathaniel Asker has been at Fried Frank for the last decade.

By Patrick Smith

Davis Polk & Wardwell is planning to bring on Nathaniel Asker, a top antitrust partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, sources familiar with the move said Friday. The sources confirmed that Asker will be based in Davis Polk’s New York office.

A request for comment sent to Davis Polk was not returned before publication. A Fried Frank representative also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to his bio and LinkedIn profile, Asker advises public companies, private equity firms and their portfolio companies on antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures as well as other government investigations and compliance matters.

He's practiced at Fried Frank for the last decade, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Asker has worked on several notable matters, according to his bio, including with Standard General in its $4.6 billion buy of Bally’s; Terex in its $2 billion buy of environmental, social and governance company Dover; and Aerie Pharmaceuticals in its $930 million sale to Alcon, among others.

Before his time at Fried Frank, Asker was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz from 2007 through 2014.

The hiring is another example of law firms seeking out top antitrust talent, and that hiring trend may not slow during the second Trump administration. Law firms such as Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Goodwin Procter, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and Baker Botts have all added antitrust lateral partners in the new year.