ABA Antitrust Law Section plans blockbuster Spring Meeting March 29-31 in D.C.

The American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s 71st Annual Spring Meeting, the largest gathering of competition and consumer protection professionals from around the world, will be held in person March 29-31 in Washington, D.C. and features a host of top U.S., international and state enforcers and other officials from the  private and public sectors.

More than 3,300 government enforcement officials, private attorneys, in-house corporate counsel, academics, judges, economists and businesspeople from 64 countries have registered for the Spring Meeting. Programs cover a broad range of national and global antitrust and competition issues, as well as consumer protection and data privacy developments; perspectives from jurists; and updates from key officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Jonathan Kanter, DOJ assistant attorney general for antitrust, Lina Khan, FTC chair, and Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission responsible for competition, are three of the many high-profile presenters confirmed for the conference. All will be on the panel, “Enforcers Roundtable,” at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 31. Other top DOJ,
FTC and foreign government officials will appear on programs throughout the Spring Meeting, including FTC Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter, Christine Wilson, and Alvaro Bedoya.

On Wednesday, March, 29, there will be programs examining the state of antitrust policies and matters midway through the first term of the Biden administration, as well as a noon luncheon titled “Women at the Top” featuring female general counsel at four leading U.S. companies — Uber Technologies, Peloton Interactive, Qualcomm Inc. and The Coca-Cola Co.

On Thursday, a timely panel explores the extent to which big tech companies are operating under an enforcement microscope both in the U.S. and globally.
Conference programs include:

• “Agency Update with the U.S. Department of Justice” — DOJ deputy assistant attorneys general will discuss the latest in civil enforcement, cartel cases and policy initiatives. Presenters include:

  - Susan Athey, chief economist, DOJ Antitrust Division

  - Hetal J. Doshi, acting deputy assistant attorney general, DOJ Antitrust Division

  - Andrew J. Forman, deputy assistant attorney general, DOJ Antitrust Division

  - Maggie Goodlander, deputy assistant attorney general, DOJ Antitrust Division

  - Michael B. Kades, deputy assistant attorney general, DOJ Antitrust Division

  - Manish Kumar, acting deputy assistant attorney general, DOJ Antitrust Division

• “Views from the Bench” — Litigation has presented a broad variety of antitrust issues involving dynamic facts and complex economic testimony. This panel of experienced judges will discuss how they approach and manage merger and non-merger cases. Speakers include:

  - Richard F. Boulware, judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, Las Vegas

  - Denise L. Cote, judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

  - Paul L. Friedman, judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

  - Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland

• “Around the Globe with International Enforcers” — In this program, international enforcement officials will discuss global trends and the latest developments in antitrust enforcement in their respective jurisdictions. Speakers are:

  - Matthew Boswell, commissioner, Competition Bureau Canada, Gatineau, Quebec

  - Liza Carver, commissioner, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Sydney

  - Martin Coleman, panel chair/inquiry chair/non-executive director, Competition and Markets Authority, London

  - Olivier Guersent, director-general, DG Competition, European Commission, Brussels

  - Olha Pishchanska, chair, Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, Kyiv

  - Doris Tshepe, commissioner, South African Competition Commission, Pretoria

• “All Bark, No Bite? Antitrust under Biden” — A sweeping executive order on antitrust policy and agency appointments aligned with the “New Brandeisian” movement has generated
discussion that civil antitrust enforcement has become overly ambitious. This panel will examine that observation as well as whether enforcement has not gone far enough. It will also
tackle what the next two years of the administration might bring in terms of antitrust. Panelists are:

  - Ian R. Conner, Latham & Watkins LLP, Washington

  - Renata B. Hesse, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Washington

  - J. Michael Lee, executive director, assistant general counsel, JP Morgan Chase & Co., New York

  - Matt Stoller, director of research, American Economic Liberties Project, Washington

• “Briefing with State Enforcers” — With state enforcement actions on the rise, there is increased interest in what state enforcers have planned. In this panel, state enforcers discuss coordination efforts for antitrust investigations and the shared and individual goals of their respective agencies. They include:

  - Lizabeth A. Brady, director, Antitrust Division, Office of the Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida

  - Beatriz Marques, assistant attorney general, Office of the NY State Attorney General, New York

  - Hart Martin, deputy director & SAAFG, Consumer Protection Division, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, Canton

  - William Matlack, assistant attorney general, chief, Antitrust Division, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, Boston

• “Chair’s Showcase: Moving the Needle” — Panelists will focus on key influences on antitrust, data privacy and consumer protection law, policy and enforcement. Speakers are:

  - Reiko Aoki, commissioner, Japan Fair Trade Commission, Tokyo

  - Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, president, Conselho Administrativo De Defesa Economica (CADE), Brasilia

  - Andrew I. Gavil, Howard University Law School, Washington

  - Doha G. Mekki, principal deputy assistant attorney general, DOJ, Antitrust Division

  - Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter, Bloomberg News, Washington

  - Christine S. Wilson, commissioner, FTC

  - Timothy Wu, Columbia Law School, New York

• “Big Tech under the Microscope” — Government enforcers in the U.S. and Europe are litigating landmark antitrust cases against large tech companies accused of monopolization and exclusionary conduct. These lawsuits have captured the public’s attention and placed a spotlight on antitrust enforcement in dynamic markets. Agency representatives provide a glimpse about the status of these cases and their policy considerations. They are:

  - Tara I. Koslov, deputy director, Bureau of Competition, FTC (moderator)

  - Alberto Bacchiega, director, Information, Communication and Media, DG Competition, European Commission, Brussels

  - Daniel S. Guarnera, counsel to the AAG, DOJ, Antitrust Division

  - James Lloyd, antitrust section chief, Office of the Texas Attorney General, Austin

  - Anant Raut, Washington

• “Agency Update with the FTC Bureau Directors” — Two years into a new administration, the FTC directors of the Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics and Office of Policy Planning discuss their priorities and policy initiatives in antitrust and consumer protection enforcement. They are:

  - Samuel A.A. Levine, director, Bureau of Consumer Protection

  - Aviv Nevo, director, Bureau of Economic

  - Holly Vedova, director, Bureau of Competition

  - Elizabeth Wilkins, director, Office of Policy Planning

• “Enforcers Roundtable” — This panel of some of the world’s leading competition authorities will offer an insider and expert view of some of the cases and investigations hitting the news. Speakers are:

  - Sarah Cardell, chief executive, Competition and Markets Authority, London

  - Gwendolyn J. Cooley, assistant attorney general for antitrust, Office of the Wisconsin Attorney General, Madison

  - Jonathan S. Kanter, assistant attorney general, DOJ, Antitrust Division

  - Lina Kahn, chair, FTC, Washington

  - Margrethe Vestager, vice president and commissioner, European Commission, Brussels

For additional information on the 71st Annual Spring Meeting  or the ABA Antitrust Law Section, visit www.americanbar.org/groups/antitrust_law.