Antitrust Law Section

Antonio Capobianco, Esq.

OECD Competition Division

Paris, France
Antonio Capobianco is currently the Acting Head of the OECD Competition Division. In this position, he is responsible for the proceedings of the OECD Competition Committee and for all the other work streams of the Division. Over the years at the OECD, Mr Capobianco has coordinated a series of OECD projects and work streams and has authored numerous Background Notes of the Secretariat on a wide range of competition law enforcement and policy topics. He has led many in-country projects to support domestic reforms and he regularly represents the OECD at international events.

Prior to joining the OECD in 2007, Mr Capobianco was a Counsel in the Competition Department of WilmerHale LLP, based in Brussels. He also spent three years with the Italian Competition Authority. Mr Capobianco authored several articles on antitrust issues published on major international law journals specialized in competition law and he co-authored textbooks on Italian and European competition law and economics. He regularly speaks at international conferences on antitrust and regulation issues. Mr. Capobianco graduated in law at the L.U.I.S.S. – Guido Carli in Rome and holds LL.M. degrees from the Law School of the New York University and from the Institute of European Studies of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Bernard (Barry) A. Nigro Jr., Esq.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Washington, D.C.
Barry Nigro is Chair of Fried Frank’s Global Antitrust and Competition Department. He rejoined the Firm from the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, where he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General (2019-2020), responsible for civil and criminal enforcement, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General (2017-2019). He also served as Deputy Director for the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition (2003-2006).

His practice is focused on the clearance of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, as well as investigations and litigation under federal and state competition laws, grand jury proceedings, and compliance counseling and training.

Bill Baer, Esq.

The Brookings Institution

Washington, D.C.
Bill Baer is a visiting fellow in Governance Studies. He is one of the world’s best known and respected antitrust/competition enforcers. Bill is the only person to have led antitrust enforcement at both US antitrust agencies, serving as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice from 2013 to 2016, and as Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission from 1995 to 1999.

During his tenure as Assistant Attorney General, the Antitrust Division achieved unprecedented success in civil and criminal enforcement, bringing and winning more cases than at any point in its history. He also developed close working relationships with his competition enforcement colleagues around the world. In 2016 and early 2017, Bill also served as Acting Associate Attorney General, the third highest official in the Department of Justice. He oversaw the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Tax, and Environment and Natural Resources Divisions and successfully led the effort to hold financial institutions accountable in the Residential Mortgage Backed Securities crisis, securing record penalties and consumer redress.

Bill worked at the Federal Trade Commission on two different occasions: from 1995-99, as Director of the Bureau of Competition; and from 1975-1980 as Attorney Advisor to the Chairman and Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Congressional Relations. While not in public service Bill headed the highly regarded antitrust practice at Arnold & Porter, representing a broad range of companies in US and international cartel investigations, antitrust litigation, and mergers and acquisition reviews by antitrust enforcers, including the DOJ, FTC, state attorneys general, and the European Commission.
Bill was twice named by Global Competition Review as the best competition lawyer in the world; honored, in 2010 and 2012, by Best Lawyers as the best antitrust lawyer in Washington; and named by The National Law Journal as one of “The Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers.” In 2015 the Federal Trade Commission honored him with the Miles W. Kirkpatrick Lifetime Achievement Award. And in 2017 the American Antitrust Institute presented him with the Alfred E. Kahn Award for Antitrust Achievement.

Bill received his JD in 1975 from Stanford Law School, where he served as Senior Article Editor of The Stanford Law Review, and his BA in 1972 from Lawrence University, which recently awarded him its Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.

CREDENTIALS

Education
• JD, Stanford Law School, 1975
• BA, Lawrence University, 1972, cum laude

Admissions
• District of Columbia
• Supreme Court of the United States
• US District Court, District of Columbia
• US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Government Service
• Acting Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice, 2016-17
• Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Department of Justice, 2013-16
• Director, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, 1995-99
• Assistant General Counsel & Director of Congressional Relations, Federal Trade Commission, 1978-80
• Attorney Advisor to the Chairman, Federal Trade Commission, 1977-78
• Trial Attorney, Federal Trade Commission, 1975-77

Debbie Feinstein, Esq.

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Washington, D.C.
Debbie Feinstein heads Arnold & Porter’s Global Antitrust group, and brings a wealth of experience to her practice in advising clients on a range of antitrust challenges before US antitrust authorities. She recently re-joined the firm from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where she was Director of the Bureau of Competition. In that capacity, she was responsible for supervising the investigation and enforcement of the US antitrust laws against anticompetitive mergers and conduct. During her tenure from 2013 to 2017, the FTC had substantial litigation success and a number of major merger wins, including challenges to Sysco Corp.’s acquisition of rival US Foods Inc., and Staples Inc.’s merger with Office Depot Inc. She had previously served at the FTC from 1989 to 1991 as Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Competition and Attorney Advisor.

Throughout her career, Ms. Feinstein has focused on merger and acquisition reviews by antitrust enforcement agencies in the United States and globally, as well as civil investigations and litigation. Her industry experience is broad, and includes retail, food, consumer products, healthcare, chemicals, and automotive parts, among others. She was an associate at Arnold & Porter from 1987 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1995. Later, as a partner, she led the firm’s US Antitrust group from 2010 to 2013.

Ms. Feinstein has been consistently lauded as a leading practitioner by Chambers USA and other ranking publications. The National Law Journal named her one of the most influential women lawyers in America and Global Competition Review recognized her as global “Lawyer of the Year” and named her to its international list of the “Top 100 Women in Antitrust.” She has also been ranked by Super Lawyers as being among the top 50 women lawyers in Washington, DC.

Elai Katz, Esq.

Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP

New York, NY
Elai Katz leads Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP’s antitrust practice groups and is co-chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.

Elai’s practice focuses principally on a wide range of antitrust law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, litigation, counseling and government investigations. He also has significant experience in intellectual property counseling and litigation as well as general commercial litigation.

Elai has successfully guided a broad range of transactions through antitrust and foreign investment regulatory reviews in the United States and abroad. He has represented buyers and sellers in many industries, including financial services, insurance, healthcare, media and telecommunications, online retailing and others. Elai has a particularly strong record in obtaining quick and positive resolutions during the early phases of merger reviews and is particularly attuned to the role global antitrust review plays in negotiating and completing mergers and acquisitions.

Elai has represented clients in a variety of antitrust disputes, including complex class actions alleging price fixing and monopolization, as well as matters involving distribution arrangements and price discrimination. He regularly advises clients on the formation of joint ventures, development of distribution and marketing arrangements and pricing policies, participation in trade association activities and interaction with competitors.

Elai has been recognized as a leading antitrust lawyer by Chambers USA (since 2009), Benchmark Litigation, and The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers, among others.
Elai joined Cahill as an associate in 1997 and became a partner in 2005.

Professional Activities
Elai is Co-Chair of the Corporate Counseling Committee of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section and was Chair of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Legal Aid Society. He is also a trustee of the Yale Library Associates and a member of the Yale University Library Council.

Elai writes and speaks frequently on antitrust topics. He writes a bi-monthly column in The New York Law Journal reporting and commenting on antitrust law developments in the U.S. and overseas. He is the author of entries on Joint Ventures, Financial Institutions and Insurance in the Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments (one of the leading antitrust treatises) and a chapter on the Donnelly Act in the New York State Bar Associations’ New York Antitrust and Consumer Protection Law (Third Edition). Elai is a regular participant, as a panelist and moderator, in the Annual Review of Antitrust Developments at the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association. He has moderated and participated in panels on a wide range of topics, including information exchange (2019), financial market manipulation (2018), credit card network anti-steering rules (2016), antitrust compliance (2015), MFNs (2012), settlement of patent litigation (2009), resale price maintenance post-Leegin (2008), New York’s Donnelly Act (2010), post-closing reviews of mergers (2008), and antitrust and the financial crisis (2008).

Education
Yale University, B.A., 1992
Columbia Law School, J.D., 1996, Stone Scholar, Editor-in-Chief, Columbia Journal of Law & Social Problems

Eric S. Hochstadt, Esq.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

New York, NY
Eric Hochstadt is a partner in Weil’s Litigation Department. Mr. Hochstadt’s practice focuses on civil antitrust, class action, and other complex and sports-related litigation, as well as criminal cartel investigations and antitrust counseling. He has represented clients in a broad range of industries, including broadcasting, e-commerce, electronics, financial services, pharmaceuticals, private equity, publishing, and transportation.

Mr. Hochstadt has extensive experience with consumer and antitrust class action litigation, as well as antitrust lawsuits and commercial disputes between rivals or suppliers and distributors. He has litigated in state and federal courts around the country and participated in confidential arbitrations. He has litigated numerous dispositive and strategic motions, appeals, and has facilitated a number of favorable settlements, on behalf of litigation teams representing high profile clients.

Mr. Hochstadt is a member of the Executive Committee of the Antitrust Section of the New York State Bar Association and a Co-Chair of the Unilateral Conduct Committee. He also is a leader on the Economics Subcommittee of the ABA Section of Litigation’s Expert Witness Committee. In addition, he serves as Co-Chair of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Alumni Mentor Program for law students. Mr. Hochstadt also has served as a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School teaching an advanced seminar on “U.S. Civil and Criminal Enforcement of International Cartels.”

Mr. Hochstadt earned his J.D. degree, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He received his B.A., High Distinction, from the University of Michigan. Mr. Hochstadt also served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Loretta A. Preska, the former Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Jay L. Himes, Esq.

Labaton Sucharow LLP

New York, NY
Co-Chair of the Labaton Sucharow’s Antitrust & Competition Litigation Practice, Jay Himes has more than 40 years of experience in all aspects of litigation, trial and appellate practice in both antitrust and complex litigation generally.

• Appointed by United States District Judge Orrick to serve as the monitoring trustee under the final judgment in United States of America v. Bazaarvoice, Inc., No. 13-cv-00133-WHO (ND Cal.).
• Upon completion of the four-year appointment, recognized by the Court for having “diligently and effectively monitored the defendant’s compliance,” and for having “worked through innumerable complex issues . . . with obvious skill and sensitivity.”

• Served as the Antitrust Bureau Chief in the New York Attorney General’s office for nearly eight years, leading significant, high-profile antitrust investigations and enforcement actions.
• The States’ principal representative in the marathon negotiations that led to a settlement of the government’s 2001 landmark monopolization case against Microsoft, and a leader thereafter in the Microsoft judgment enforcement activity.
• Partnered with DOJ officials over a multi-year period to monitor Microsoft’s judgment compliance, which included setting up and supervising a group of software engineers, referred to as “TC” (technical committee), to oversee Microsoft technical activity.

• The 2014 recipient of the William T. Lifland Service Award, presented by the Antitrust Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) for distinguished service.

• A regular author and speaker at conferences spanning a range of subjects, including competition law and online platform antitrust issues, class actions, international litigation, investigation, and arbitration, no-poach agreements and wage suppression, state aid under the TFEU, trade law, and related topics.

• Lectured and presented in Amsterdam, Antigua (Guatemala), Berlin, Dublin, Geneva, Hanoi, Krakow, Lisbon, Montreal, Paris, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Stockholm, Tokyo, Vienna, Winterthur, and Zurich, as well as in the U.S.
• Described by Chambers USA sources as very experienced, sophisticated and smart. “He’s a plaintiffs’ lawyer who really knows his antitrust,” and one who “inspires respect from peers” – thoughtful, well read and a first-rate lawyer.” And by The Legal 500s sources as “smart and trustworthy.”

• A member of the U.S. advisory board of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Institute of Consumer Antitrust Studies, the advisory board of MLex, and the Advisory Board of the American Economic Liberties Project, and the editorial advisory group of the Antitrust Chronicle.

• Chair of NYSBA’s International Section. A past chair of NYSBA’s Antitrust Law Section and the Section’s past delegate to NYSBA’s House of Delegates, as well as co-chair of the antitrust committees of NYSBA’s Commercial and Federal Litigation and International Sections. Also a member of antitrust, litigation, information technology and intellectual property groups in the American Bar Association, and the board of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

• Practiced complex litigation for 25 years at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, representing plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of litigation, including antitrust cases and securities class actions as well as civil rights, contract, construction, constitutional, entertainment, environmental, real property, tax litigation, and pro bono matters.

Mr. Himes graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he served as the Articles Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review. Following law school, he pursued independent study at the University of Oxford in England. Additional information may be found in Mr. Himes’ firm bio: https://www.labaton.com/en/ourpeople/Jay-Himes.cfm

Leah Brannon, Esq.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Washington, D.C.
Leah Brannon is a partner based in the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Her practice focuses on antitrust matters, including mergers and litigation, and appellate litigation. Her work has involved cases in both federal and state courts, and she has advised clients in investigations by the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, state agencies, and the European Commission.

Ms. Brannon has taught antitrust as a teaching fellow at Harvard University and as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She was previously a Senior Editor for the Antitrust Law Journal and served as a Council Member, Section of Antitrust Law, for the American Bar Association.

Ms. Brannon joined the firm in 2003 and became a partner in 2008. She received a J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1999 and a B.A. with highest distinction from the University of Virginia in 1995. From 1996-1997, Ms. Brannon was a Fulbright Scholar in Egypt. From 2000-2001, she served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and from 2002-2003 she served as law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Esq.

Baker Botts LLP

Washington, D.C.
Maureen K. Ohlhausen chairs the firm’s Global Antitrust and Competition practice. Her practice focuses on antitrust, privacy and data security and consumer protection investigations and litigation both in the U.S. and abroad. She advises top-tier clients across a wide variety of industries including technology, retail, telecommunications, social media, and life sciences.

Maureen is sought after for her depth of experience both nationally and globally on antitrust and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)related matters. She is known for her relationships with officials in the U.S. and abroad, with a particular emphasis on Europe and China.

She most recently led the FTC as Acting Chairman and Commissioner where she directed all aspects of the FTC’s antitrust work, including merger review and conduct enforcement, and steered all FTC consumer protection enforcement, with a particular emphasis on privacy and technology issues. She regularly led the U.S. delegation at international antitrust and data privacy meetings and is the only FTC Commissioner to have received the Robert Pitofsky Lifetime Achievement award in recognition of her knowledge of and contributions to the Commission.

Prior to her role as Commissioner, she led the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force, which produced an influential report analyzing competition and consumer protection legal issues in the areas of broadband and internet.

A recognized thought leader, Maureen is a frequent author and speaker and is often quoted by leading print and broadcast media on antitrust, FTC, and privacy and data security matters. She has published dozens of articles on antitrust, privacy, intellectual property, regulation, FTC litigation, telecommunications and international law issues in prestigious publications. She has also testified over a dozen times before the U.S. Congress, including recent appearances before the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Antitrust Sub-Committee.

Maureen previously headed the FTC practice group at a leading telecommunications law firm, representing and counseling telecommunications and technology clients on antitrust compliance, privacy and consumer protection matters before the FTC and the FCC. She began her legal career as a clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, Esq.

Federal Trade Commission

Washington, D.C.
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter was sworn in as a Federal Trade Commissioner on May 2, 2018.

Commissioner Slaughter brings to the Commission more than a decade of experience in competition, privacy, and consumer protection. She builds consensus for a progressive vision, and staunchly advocates for our nation’s consumers and workers. Commissioner Slaughter believes that the FTC’s dual missions of promoting competition and protecting consumers are interconnected and complementary, and she is mindful that enforcement or rulemaking in one arena can have far-reaching implications for the other.

A proponent of greater resources, transparency, and comprehensive use of the FTC’s authorities, Commissioner Slaughter is outspoken about the growing threats to competition and the broad abuse of consumers’ data. Targeted merger retrospectives, corrective enforcement, and expansion of the Commission’s rulemaking authorities are among the approaches that she has championed during her time at the FTC. Along with advocating for consumers, particularly those traditionally underrepresented and marginalized, Commissioner Slaughter strongly supports working families and work-life balance.
Before joining the FTC, Ms. Slaughter served as Chief Counsel to Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the Democratic Leader. She was an associate in the D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP before entering federal service.

Ms. Slaughter received her B.A. in Anthropology magna cum laude from Yale University and her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal. She lives in Maryland with her wonderful husband and their four amazing children.

Sandeep Vaheesan, Esq.

Open Markets Institute

Washington, D.C.
Sandeep Vaheesan is legal director at the Open Markets Institute (OMI) and leads OMI’s legal advocacy and research program. From 2015 to 2018, he served as a regulations counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he helped develop and draft the first comprehensive federal rule on payday, title, and high-cost installment loans. Prior to that, he worked on competition policy issues at the American Antitrust Institute.

He has published articles and essays on a variety of topics in antitrust law and anti-monopoly policy. His writing has appeared in, among other publications, the Atlantic, Harvard Law & Policy Review, New York Times, Washington Post, and Yale Law Journal Forum.

Senator Michael Gianaris, Esq.

12^th District

New York, NY
Senator Michael Gianaris serves as Deputy Majority Leader and proudly represents western Queens. Guided by the principle that our government should level the playing field between everyday New Yorkers and powerful private interests, Senator Gianaris is a progressive champion who authored critical legislation to increase state antitrust regulation, establish the strongest tenant protections in state history, direct more revenue to the struggling MTA, make voting easier, and make the criminal justice system fairer. He believes in smart economic growth that invests in workers without providing windfalls to giant corporations.

Sharon K. Robertson, Esq.

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC

New York, NY
Sharon Robertson is a Partner at Cohen Milstein and a member of the Antitrust practice group.

Ms. Robertson has been repeatedly recognized for her success in leading complex, multi-district antitrust litigation. In 2020, Chambers ranked Ms. Robertson “Band 2 in Antitrust: Plaintiff – New York and USA – Nationwide” while Lawdragon included her on its “500 Leading Lawyers in America” list. In 2019, The National Law Journal named her as one of nine “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar,” an award that recognizes female lawyers who “have consistently excelled in high-stakes matters on behalf of plaintiffs over the course of their careers.” In the same year, Law360 named Ms. Robertson a “Life Sciences-MVP” for her “hard-earned successes” and “record-breaking deals.” In 2018, the American Antitrust Institute honored her with its prestigious “Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement by a Young Lawyer” award for her role in securing one of the largest recoveries on behalf of end-payors in a federal generic suppression case in over a decade. Similarly, for three consecutive years, The Legal 500 has repeatedly selected her as a “Next Generation Lawyer” (2017 -2020), an honor bestowed upon only 10 lawyers under 40 years old across the country, who are positioned to become leaders in their respective fields. Likewise, The New York Law Journal recognized her as a Rising Star (2018) – one of only twenty individuals selected to receive this honor. In addition, Benchmark Litigation selected Ms. Robertson for inclusion on its “40 & Under Hot List” for three consecutive years (2018-2020) and Law360 named her as one of five “Rising Stars” (2018) in the field of competition law whose “professional accomplishments belie their age,” as did Super Lawyers (2014-2016, 2019-2020). Ms. Robertson has also been recognized by Law360 as one of a few female litigators to secure leadership roles in high-profile MDLs, such as In re Lidoderm Antitrust Litigation (March 16, 2017).

Ms. Robertson is spearheading the firm’s efforts in cutting-edge and industry-defining pay-for-delay pharmaceutical antitrust lawsuits, which allege that the defendant brand manufacturer entered into non-competition agreements with generic manufacturers in order to delay entry of lower-priced generic products. Ms. Robertson also heads up the firm’s generic price-fixing cases, which allege that certain generic drug manufacturers conspired to inflate the prices of generic drug products. These cases come on the heels of a government investigation led by the U.S. Department of Justice alleging similar conduct, which, while ongoing, has already resulted in indictments and guilty pleas.

In addition to leading complex MDLs, Ms. Robertson is an accomplished trial lawyer. She served as a trial team member in two of the largest antitrust cases tried to verdict, including In re Urethanes Antitrust Litigation, where the jury returned a $400 million verdict, which was trebled by the Court, as required by antitrust law, to $1.06 billion, resulting in the largest price-fixing verdict in U.S. history, as well as In re Nexium Antitrust Litigation, the first pharmaceutical antitrust case to go to trial following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in FTC v. Actavis, 570 U.S. 756 (2013).
Ms. Robertson co-chairs the firm’s Professional Development and Mentoring Committee and serves on the firm’s Diversity Committee. She is also an active member of the Executive Committee for the Antitrust Section of the New York State Bar Association.

While attending law school, Ms. Robertson was an intern in the Litigation Bureau of the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Additionally, while in law school, Ms. Robertson was selected as an Alexander Fellow and spent a semester serving as a full-time Judicial Intern to the Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ms. Robertson graduated from State University of New York at Binghamton, magna cum laude with a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Law. She earned her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she served as Notes Editor of the Cardozo Public Law, Policy and Ethics Journal.

Prior to attending law school, Ms. Robertson worked on the campaign committee of Councilman John Liu, the first Asian American to be elected to New York City’s City Council.

Taylor M. Owings, Esq.

U.S. Department of Justice

New York, NY
Taylor Owings is Acting Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Since joining the Antitrust Division in February 2018, Taylor has counseled the Assistant Attorney General on technology and digital platform markets, the intersection of intellectual property law with antitrust law, and the proper role of standard-setting organizations in competitive markets.

Taylor joined the Antitrust Division from private practice in the San Francisco office of an international law firm. Taylor clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, for the Honorable Douglas H. Ginsburg, and on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, for the Honorable Richard J. Leon.

Taylor is a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law, the London School of Economics, and Harvard College.