2024 Golden State Institute

Anne Davis is a partner in Bleichmar Fonti & Auld’s (BFA) Oakland, California office. She has more than a decade of experience representing consumers, corporations, officers & directors in complex data privacy, antitrust, consumer, and securities class and derivative actions. Prior to joining BFA, Anne served as a Principal Counsel for Sales Practice Enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory (FINRA). Before FINRA, she was a senior associate at a global law firm, where she specialized in securities litigation and enforcement, complex civil litigation, and internal investigations.

Kate Patchen is partner and co-chair of Covington & Burling’s Cartel Defense Practice Group and its Civil Antitrust Litigation Practice Group. Kate joined Covington after a distinguished career in government and as a leader in the competition and litigation departments of a Fortune 100 company. Prior to joining Covington, Kate served as the Chief of the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office, where she spent 16 years investigating and litigating civil and criminal antitrust violations. Kate has experience litigating both civil and criminal antitrust litigation, including prosecuting high-profile cases and defending against monopolization claims.

Kathryn Turner has split her 34-year legal career between private and public practice, on the prosecution and defense sides in civil, criminal and administrative law. Kathryn served 18 years at the San Diego City Attorney’s office and was a Chief Deputy City Attorney of the Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit. She is now with the Economic Crimes Division of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office focusing on civil Unfair Competition and False Advertising Law cases and criminal consumer protection prosecutions.

Ryan Sandrock is the co-chair of Shook’s Antitrust Practice. He represents clients before federal, state, and international competition agencies, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and state attorneys general. He also is a trial lawyer and litigator with experience in state and federal courts around the country. Ryan previously served at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, working as a Digital Markets Trial Attorney. Ryan’s DOJ work included the landmark United States v. Google case, merger litigation, tech investigations, price-fixing investigations, and coordination with state and international enforcers. Before joining the DOJ, Ryan was an antitrust partner in Sidley Austin’s San Francisco office, where he helped clients win antitrust cases in the Northern District of California. Ryan is an adjunct professor at UC College of the Law, San Francisco, where he co-teaches Antitrust and Intellectual Property.

Admitted to practice in California; Washington, DC, and as a Solicitor in England & Wales (and formerly as a Solicitor of the Republic of Ireland)

An Experienced Antitrust Litigator  

Ken represents clients in multi-forum litigation, class actions, “bet-the-company” cases, M&A litigation, and high-stakes antitrust and IP disputes, including international matters.

He is an antitrust litigation partner at Wilson Sonsini, where his practice focuses on litigating complex cases and high-stakes U.S. and international disputes as well as defending against government investigations.  He is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office with a continuing presence in California.  He represents companies pursuing remedies for wrongful conduct by others, as well as defending companies being sued in complex competition cases.

An Antitrust Leader

Ken co-chairs the ABA Antitrust Section’s Intellectual Property Committee and serves on the Cartels Working Group of the International Bar Association’s Antitrust Section.  He chaired The Antitrust Litigation Forum for 10 years; chaired the California State Bar Antitrust & Unfair Competition Law Section; was vice chair of the ABA Antitrust Section’s Global Private Litigation Committee and served on the ABA Antitrust Section’s International Cartel Task Force.

A Recognized Practitioner

Ken is recognized for his work by leading industry publications, including Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, and Global Competition Review.  The latter honored Ken as being among the world’s “Competition Thought Leaders.” Chambers Global 2024: Antitrust – USA Cartel states he is “highly regarded for his antitrust cartel work,” and Chambers USA: California Antitrust 2019 reports that he is “a spectacular lawyer” who “takes on large-scale civil and criminal antitrust litigation.” 

Global Competition Review’s 2016 edition of Who’s Who Legal – Competition called Ken “one of California’s foremost litigators” and praised him for both his competition and IP experience.  He is also recognized by Best Lawyers in America for antitrust litigation in Washington, D.C.  And in 2024, the Irish Legal 100 once again honored Ken by including him on the list.

Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Ken was a senior antitrust and business litigation partner with another top firm, where he practiced law for nearly 35 years from California and then Washington, D.C.  He also served for nearly 18 months as the interim Chief Legal Officer of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) in Chicago, one of the country’s largest health insurers and operator of the BlueCross BlueShield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. 

Gary is a partner with Hausfeld splitting time between San Francisco and San Diego, focusing on complex federal antitrust litigation. Over the last decade of practice, Gary has recovered over $1 billion for clients that were the victims of antitrust violations. The Legal 500 has identified Gary as a “key name in California” for antitrust litigation and described Gary as “creative and intellectually nimble,” “a practical and effective litigator,” “a pleasure to work with,” and “a very skilled advocate” that “takes his professional and ethical obligations seriously.” Among many active cases, Gary is presently represents the plaintiffs in In re RealPage, Inc. Rental Software Antitrust Litigation. 

Gary has been honored as a Rising Star Under 40 in Healthcare Law by Law360 (2017), a Rising Star in Antitrust Litigation (2017 to 2022) and a Super Lawyer for Antitrust Litigation (2023-2024), a Trailblazer by the Legal Intelligencer (2019), an Honoree on Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under List (2023 to 2024), a recipient of the American Antitrust Institute’s Outstanding Achievement in Private Law Practice Award (2023), and was named to Best Lawyers Ones to Watch list for Antitrust (2025).

Gary is also committed to legal scholarship, the development of the antitrust laws, and serving the community through pro bono work. Gary has authored numerous articles on competition issues and the legal profession, including for the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Young Lawyers Division, the ABA’s Health Care Chronicle, and most notably, contributing to the ABA Antitrust Section’s seminal publication, Antitrust Law Developments. As a former Chair of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Law’s (COSAL) Amicus Committee, Gary has authored or contributed to amicus filings across the circuit courts and in the Supreme Court seeking to advance competition law policies. And on the pro bono front, Gary has represented victims of clergy sexual abuse that received settlement offers from the Philadelphia Archdiocese. For this and other pro bono work, Gary and Hausfeld’s Philadelphia office received the Philadelphia Bar Foundation’s 2019 Pro Bono Award.

Laura Wilkinson is Senior Director, Associate General Counsel – Global Antitrust for PayPal, where she heads the antitrust/competition law center of excellence for PayPal’s growing fintech platform and provides strategic advice to the leadership teams reporting to the board.

Prior to PayPal, Laura was a partner with two leading international law firms, Clifford Chance and Weil, Gotshal & Manges. With experience analyzing industries, evaluating complex business models and assessing strategic M&A chessboards, Laura has advised boards and senior management of Fortune 100 companies as they accelerate growth through multi-billion-dollar M&A transactions and other strategic business initiatives. 

Laura earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in economics. She later attended Cornell University’s Law School and Johnson Graduate School of Management, obtaining JD and MBA degrees.She began her antitrust career by rising through the ranks into leadership roles in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition.

She is a member of the California Lawyers Association (currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section), the District of Columbia Bar (former chair of the Antitrust and Consumer Law Section), the American Bar Association (former co-chair of the Antitrust Section’s FTC Committee), and the National Bar Association. She has taught antitrust law as an adjunct professor at Howard University School of Law.

Laura is active in various civic organizations. As a member of the board of directors for Legal Momentum – the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, she serves as a Vice President. She also is very active as a Cornell alumna. She currently serves on the Cornell Law School Advisory Council and is a trustee-emeritus on the Cornell University Board of Trustees.

Caeli A. Higney is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where she is a member of the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice Group.  Ms. Higney was recognized by Euromoney as a 2022 Rising Star in the Americas for Antitrust.

Ms. Higney has experience handling a wide variety of antitrust matters in a broad range of industries, such as semiconductors, digital platforms, consumer electronics, retail food, health care, consumer products, automotive parts, and financial services. She has represented companies before appellate and trial courts in matters alleging a range of antitrust-based claims, including allegations of price fixing, monopolization and attempted monopolization, tying, bundling, exclusive dealing, and refusal to deal. For example, Ms. Higney successfully defeated monopolization claims against a major consumer electronics company.  And Ms. Higney has defeated class certification in numerous antitrust cases.  

Ms. Higney’s antitrust experience also includes representing clients before the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other international antitrust agencies in connection with merger and acquisition matters. She was part of a team that secured worldwide antitrust clearance for a $16 billion transaction in the semiconductor industry. Ms. Higney has also represented clients in connection with investigations by international antitrust agencies, including the European Commission, Korean Fair Trade Commission, Taiwan Fair Trade Commission, and Japan Fair Trade Commission.

Ms. Higney has authored publications on a range of antitrust-related topics. Concurrences Review recognized Ms. Higney at its 2017 Antitrust Writing Awards for her article “Practical Advice for Avoiding Hub-and-Spoke Liability,” which was selected as the winner in the Business category, Concerted Practices section. Ms. Higney served as an Associate Editor of the Antitrust Report, the U.S. law periodical published by Matthew Bender and LexisNexis, and has served as a contributor to the Antitrust Law Developments handbook published by the American Bar Association and the International Comparative Legal Guides to Competition Litigation.

Ms. Higney received her law degree from Stanford Law School, and graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with a minor in economics.  

Chris Hockett is a mediator, arbitrator and court-appointed Special Master, and currently teaches Negotiations as well as advanced antitrust courses at Berkeley Law and University of Virginia Law School. He also co-chairs an intensive antitrust training program for federal judges that alternates between Berkeley Law and the University of Chicago Law School. 

Chris is a retired partner from Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Northern California office, where his practice focused on complex litigation and strategic problem solving for leading companies, boards, and executives. He served as lead counsel for clients in a broad range of high-stakes commercial litigation and investigation matters, including in the areas of antitrust and unfair competition, intellectual property, securities, consumer class actions, contracts, data breaches and professional malpractice. He also has represented clients in connection with government investigations and the antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions. 

Chris has handled cases throughout the United States, and his experience spans a variety of industries, including technology, e-commerce, finance, telecom, media, medical devices, sports, professional services, agriculture, and manufacturing. He is the former global head of Davis Polk’s antitrust practice, as well as a former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law, the world’s largest association of competition and consumer protection professionals. 

 Throughout his practice, Chris was ranked as one of “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” in Chambers USA. He has been listed as a leading lawyer in many other legal industry publications, including Best Lawyers in America, The Legal 500 U.S., and Benchmark. Clients praise him as a “very, very strong trial lawyer” and an “excellent communicator” whose “knowledge of the law is exceptional.” Clients rate him as a “spectacular talent” who is both “incredibly thoughtful” and “responsive and practical.” (Chambers)

Chris received his undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary, and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Dr. Wu’s expertise is in the economics of antitrust and intellectual property. He has testified in US district courts, before Congress, and in a variety of regulatory proceedings. Prior to joining NERA, he was a staff economist in the Bureau of Economics of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). From 2011 to 2015, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) at Stanford University.

In the area of antitrust, Dr. Wu’s experience spans three broad areas. In matters involving merger review and enforcement, he has evaluated the competitive effects of numerous transactions, with particularly deep experience in the software, data analytics, health care, and medical device industries. In the area of class action litigation, he has calculated damages using econometric methods in a number of price fixing matters, and he has considerable experience analyzing market definition and market power. Well known for his work in health care antitrust, Dr. Wu’s experience analyzing the competitive impact of proposed mergers and the potential harm to competition in monopolization and collusive conduct litigations span the broad range of services that make up this segment of the economy, including health insurance, hospital services, physician services, pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services, pharmaceuticals, laboratory services, and a variety of medical devices and technologies.

With respect to intellectual property economics, Dr. Wu has testified on reasonable royalties and on the market definition and market power issues that are often raised in the context of an antitrust counterclaim. He also has written and consulted on issues involving patent pools.

Dr. Wu is the co-author of a book on antitrust class certification, The Revolution in the Law and Economics of Antitrust Class Certification. He also has edited three books on the economics of antitrust, including a book on the use of econometrics in antitrust analysis. His publications, which have appeared in Antitrust, The Antitrust Bulletin, Antitrust Chronicle, Antitrust Report, The Antitrust Source, European Competition Law Review, Journal of Business Venturing, and Medical Care, include articles on merger analysis, market share-based merger screens, empirical methods in merger analysis, patent pools, and the multiple dimensions of market power. He also is frequently invited to speak at conferences and seminars.

Dr. Wu earned his PhD from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and his BA from Stanford University.