Event Overview
Wednesday, January 20, 2027
8:45 AM – 12:00 PM – Business Law Section MCLE Program (Sutton Center, 2nd Floor)
12:45 PM – 2:00 PM – Business Law Section Luncheon (Bryant, 2nd Floor)
From the Boardroom to the Server Room: Practical Guidance for Business Lawyers and In-House Counsel
The 2027 NYSBA Business Law Section’s Annual Meeting program brings together business lawyers, in-house counsel, and industry leaders from New York and beyond to examine the forces reshaping legal practice and corporate decision-making. The program opens with an outlook on the year ahead, covering M&A trends, tariffs and international trade, and key regulatory and legislative developments. It then turns to artificial intelligence, exploring governance frameworks, liability exposure, and the professional responsibility obligations that come with AI-assisted practice. A dedicated General Counsel track addresses the in-house lawyer’s expanding role as risk manager, from cybersecurity incident response and board reporting to the ethical dilemmas unique to lawyers who serve a corporate client. The program closes with a forward-looking session on deal technology, smart contracts, and digital assets. Combining practical, actionable guidance with valuable ethics credit opportunities, the program equips attendees to advise clients and organizations with confidence in a rapidly changing legal and business environment.
Key Highlights & Objectives
Attendees will leave with a practical framework for spotting and advising on the year’s key exposures, including trade and tariff volatility, cybersecurity incidents, and AI-related liability. The framework is built for how boards and business leaders actually make decisions.
Business Law Section Chair
Luca CM Melchionna
Business Law Section Program Chair
David Lallouz
General Registration Fee
Required for all Annual Meeting attendees.
| NYSBA Members - EARLY BIRD (By 11/2/2026) | $150 |
| NYSBA Members (After 11/2/2026) | $250 |
| Non-members | $395 |
+plus…
$195 Program Registration Fee
$185 Luncheon Fee
New York State Bar Association Antitrust Law Section 2026 Annual Meeting
Thursday, January 15, 2026
2026 Annual Meeting of the Antitrust Law Section
CLE Program / 8:45 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. / New York Hilton Midtown
Beekman | Second Floor
6.0 MCLE Credits
5.0 Areas of Professional Practice | 1.0 Skills
Section Business Meeting / 12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. / New York Hilton Midtown
Beekman | Second Floor
Young Lawyers’ Networking Happy Hour / 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Nassau East | Second Floor
Antitrust Law Section Annual Evening Reception and Dinner / 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
The University Club of New York, One West 54th Street
This program is transitional and is suitable for all attorneys including those
newly admitted.
8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Welcome Introduction
Speaker
Erica S. Weisgerber, Esq. | Debevoise & Plimpton LLP New York, NY
William V. Reiss, Esq. | Robins Kaplan LLP New York, NY
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Annual Review of Hot Topics and Developments
This year’s annual antitrust developments panel will survey the pivotal antitrust cases, enforcement trends, legislative activity, and merger reviews that shaped 2025, and will offer insights into anticipated developments in the new year.
Speaker
Eyitayo “Tee” St. Matthew-Daniel, Esq. | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP New York, NY
Samuel Weinstein, Esq. | Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Moderator
Elai Katz, Esq. | McDermott Will & Emery LLP New York, NY
1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Break
10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Designing and Implementing Remedies After Google
With Judge Mehta’s remedies order in U.S. v. Google (Search) now out—and a decision in the AdTech case looming—the question is no longer about liability, but about what remedies truly restore competition. This panel will examine how courts connect conduct to harm when deciding remedies, why limits on default payments, index access, or AI search distribution may or may not be effective, and when structural relief—such as divestiture in AdTech—becomes viable. Panelists will also tackle the hardest part: ensuring remedies work in practice, through careful design, monitoring, and enforcement, so that outcomes go beyond formal compliance to deliver lasting competitive change.
Speaker
Lawrence E. Buterman, Esq. | Latham & Watkins LLP
Jay L. Himes, Esq. | Administrative Law Judge, Federal Trade Commission
Jonathan Sallet, Esq. | Office of the Colorado Attorney General Denver, Colorado
Ron Schnell, Esq. | Keystone Strategy, LLC Fort Lauderdale, FL
Moderator
Kathleen Bradish, Esq. | American Antitrust Institute Washington D.C.
1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Behind the Verdict: Working with Jury Consultants and Utilizing Jury Focus Groups in Antitrust Litigation
Antitrust trials often hinge not only on the legal arguments presented but also on how effectively those arguments resonate with jurors. As cases become increasingly complex, attorneys are turning to jury consultants and focus groups to gain insight into jury psychology, test themes, and refine trial strategy. This panel will explore practical approaches to leveraging these tools in antitrust litigation, highlighting both opportunities and challenges. The panel will feature experienced trial attorneys, a trial consultant, and an academic.
Speaker
David Gringer, Esq. | WilmerHale
Alexa Hiley | IMS Legal Strategies
David Perlut | Vinson & Company
David Scupp, Esq. | Shinder, Cantor, Lerner LLP
Moderator
Meegan Hollywood | Shinder, Cantor, Lerner LLP
1.0 Credit in Skills12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Antitrust Law Section Business Meeting
Speaker
Erica S. Weisgerber, Esq. |
William V. Reiss, Esq. |
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch On Your Own
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
When is Big Good? Industrial Policy Considerations in Merger Control Review
Discussion of the EU’s Draghi Report and Competitiveness Compact, UK change in competition priorities, and implications in the U.S. of Trump Administration’s Make America Great Again focus, including the implications of the new HSR form.
Speaker
Rachel Brandenburger, Esq | APCO Worldwide
Nicholas Levy, Esq. | Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Brussels, Belgium
Mary Marks, Esq. | Sidley Austin, LLP New York, NY
Michael Weiner, Esq. | Steptoe LLP New York, NY
Moderator
Ilene K. Gotts, Esq. | Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz New York. NY
Lauren Rackow, Esq. | Clifford Chance New York, NY
1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Consumer Protection Enforcement, Dominant Firms, and the Digital Economy
Antitrust agencies around the globe have taken divergent enforcement approaches when it comes to Big Tech and AI. Senior leadership at the FTC and DOJ have strongly advocated for ex post enforcement as opposed to ex ante regulation, whereas the EU has charted a different course, including through the DMA. While the debate as to which approach is more effective continues, the scrutiny of digital platforms and dominant firms remain. And in this context, enforcement agencies have increasingly relied on consumer protection as another tool to address alleged harms. Indeed, while the U.S. antitrust agencies have litigated a series of landmark monopolization cases, the FTC has simultaneously brought groundbreaking cases against a number of the same defendants using long recognized consumer protection theories of harm. The panel will explore the use and effectiveness of consumer protection enforcement in the context of Big Tech, AI, and dominant firms.
Speaker
Chris Mufarrige, Esq. | Federal Trade Commission, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection
Noah J. Phillips, Esq | Cravath, Swaine & Moore LL
Ludovica Pizzetti, Esq. | Arnold & Porter
Moderator
William H. Efron, Esq. | Arnold & Porter New York, NY
1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Break
3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Monopolizing the Conversation: Is Free Speech an Antitrust Issue?
Recent DOJ and FTC leadership, under both the Biden and Trump Administrations, have expressed concerns that lackluster competition threatens our democracy, and in a recent consent order, the FTC required advertising agency Omnicom to, inter alia, agree not to unilaterally or in coordination with others, direct its customers’ advertising spend because of political or ideological views or refuse to publish advertising content because of political or ideological views, as a condition to its proposed acquisition of Interpublic Group. In this panel, we’ll explore whether we have a competition problem in media and content, and whether the antitrust laws are an appropriate tool to address potential harms to protect free speech.
Speaker
Scott R. Flick, Esq. | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Anthony Gambol | Lionsgate
Wesley R. Powell, Esq. | Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Moderator
Nathaniel L. Asker, Esq. | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice4:45p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Concluding Remarks
Speaker
William V. Reiss, Esq. | Robins Kaplan LLP New York, NY
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Young Lawyer Networking Happy Hour
Speaker
Susan Musser, Esq. | WilmerHale Washington, DC
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Section Cocktail Reception
University Club
7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Section Dinner with Awards and Dessert Buffet
Speaker
Judge Amit P. Mehta | District Judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Antitrust Law Section Chair: Erica S. Weisgerber, Esq., Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York, NY Program Chair: William V. Reiss, Esq., Robins Kaplan LLP, New York, NY



















