Biden Trustbusters’ Zeal Riles Big Law’s Laissez-Faire Old Guard

Less than a year into their new jobs, President Joe Biden’s competition regulators are infuriating the legal establishment they’ve wrested power from.

“The current rhetoric is terrifying,” said Jonathan Jacobson, a lawyer whose clients include Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other large technology companies.

For decades, U.S. regulators took a laissez-faire approach to mergers and sharp-elbowed competition. But a new generation of antitrust thinkers has taken charge in Washington and is eager to return to the trustbusting vigor of the early 20th century.

At conferences, in op-eds and in speeches, the old guard is in high dudgeon, worried ...