Michael Sohn, former chairman of Arnold & Porter, has joined Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Washington office as general counsel. Sohn joined Arnold & Porter in 1969 and was made a partner in 1972. He left the firm briefly and served for 3 years as general counsel of the Federal Trade Commission beginning in 1977. Sohn served as chairman of Arnold & Porter from 1996 through 2006. Sohn’s former clients include Wyeth, GE, Merck, NASDAQ and PepsiCo in merger investigations before the FTC and Justice Department.

Sohn has handled several high profile deals including the approved $27.2 billion acquisition of Guidant by Boston Scientific and the acquisition of Quaker Oats by PepsiCo. In 2005 the Legal Times named Sohn a “Leading Lawyer” for his “skill as a negotiator and his ability to craft settlements on the eve of a trial.”