Free event! Available for 1 self-study credit.

This program will provide a primer on recent antitrust enforcement in the technology sector for both experienced antitrust practitioners and non-antitrust specialists. The speakers will discuss the concerns and theories of anti-competitive harm supporting the recent lawsuits against Facebook and Google, as well as coordination between federal and state enforcers, and the impact of follow-on lawsuits from private plaintiffs. Aside from the current litigation, they will also discuss ongoing related antitrust policy initiatives at both the federal and state level.

Moderator: Steve Vieux
Speakers: Lin Kahn, Thomas Dahdouh, Paula Blizzard

Paula Blizzard is a Supervising Deputy Attorney General in the Antitrust Section of the California Attorney General’s Office. She supervises all the AG’s tech cases and was the lead California attorney for the Sprint / T-Mobile trial. Prior to joining the AG’s Office, she was a Deputy Bureau Chief for Enforcement at the Federal Communications Commission, a partner at Keker, Van Nest and Peters in San Francisco, and a trial attorney at the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Blizzard had a career in aerospace as a NASA contractor working on space station design and NASA’s early use of the internet.

Thomas Dahdouh has just completed 8 years as Regional Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Western Region San Francisco office. He is currently serving as a senior attorney in that office in order to focus more on casework. From 2013 to 2019, he served as Regional Director for both the San Francisco and Los Angeles FTC offices. From 2012 to 2013, he was Assistant Regional Director for the San Francisco office. Before that, he worked for 14 years as a staff attorney in the San Francisco office, handling both consumer protection and antitrust matters. Previously, he worked at the FTC’s Washington, D.C., headquarters for two Commissioners and served as a Counselor to the Director for both the Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Bureau of Competition. He also was on the Executive Committee of the California State Bar’s Antitrust, UCL and Privacy Section from 2009 to 2015, holding the position of Chair of the Section from 2014-2015. He received his JD from Harvard Law School and his BA from Yale University.

Lin Kahn has more than a decade of experience in private practice and public service focusing on antitrust litigation and government investigations. Lin rejoined Jones Day after five years at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where she served as lead litigation and trial counsel in the agency’s successful challenge to a price-fixing conspiracy in the dental industry. During her time at the FTC, Lin also led a number of merger and conduct investigations in industries such as technology, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and health care.

Steve Vieux is an attorney in the San Francisco office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP. He counsels and represents clients in diverse industries on antitrust, advertising and labeling issues. Before joining Shook, Steve was a senior attorney at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) where he led antitrust investigations in the health care and pharmaceutical industries, as well as represented the agency in litigation. As a result of his work at FTC, Steve received the prestigious Janet D. Steiger award on two occasions for his contributions to government enforcement actions and litigation. Steve’s record of public service also includes serving as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, managing a caseload of more than 100 criminal cases. Steve earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his undergraduate degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.