A resounding complaint from merging parties heard time and time again is the negative impact on operations resulting from protracted merger reviews that consume significant resources. The duration of the merger review process has increased steadily and has shown no indication of abating – until recently. In prepared remarks, the head of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declared lengthy merger reviews a problem and articulated the DOJ's new plans for completing merger reviews within six months of the parties making their Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings. The result of this new goal could be a major win for both the DOJ and the merging parties.