ANTITRUST AND UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW SECTION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2024-2025

OFFICERS

Shira Liu, Chair, Irvine

Lee Brand, Vice Chair of Operations, San Francisco

Malinda Lee, Vice Chair of Communications, Los Angeles

Aaron Sheanin, Immediate Past Chair, San Francisco

MEMBERS

Eliot Adelson, San Francisco

Dana Cook-Milligan, San Francisco

Caroline Corbitt, Emeryville

Anne Davis, Oakland

Kyla Gibboney, Oakland

Dean Harvey, San Francisco

Caeli Higney, San Francisco

Josh Holian, San Francisco

Lin W. Kahn, San Francisco

Jessica Leal, Washington, D.C.

Betsy Manifold, San Diego

Sean Meenan, San Francisco

Beatriz Mejia, San Francisco

Ryan Sandrock, San Francisco

Maricela Segura, Los Angeles

Gary Smith, San Francisco

Steve Vieux, San Francisco

Chris Wheeler, San Francisco

Laura Wilkinson, San Jose

Byron Tuyay, Los Angeles

ADVISORS

Lee Berger, Washington, D.C.

Albert Boro, San Francisco

Elizabeth Castillo, Burlingame

Russ Cohen, San Francisco

Thomas Dahdouh, San Francisco

Eric Enson, San Francisco/Los Angeles

Robert Freitas, Redwood Shores

Qianwei Fu, San Francisco

Abiel Garcia, Los Angeles

Michael Geibelson, Los Angeles

David Goldstein, San Francisco

Geoffrey Holtz, San Francisco

Peter Huston, San Francisco

Cheryl Johnson, Los Angeles David Kesselman, Los Angeles

Bonnie Lau, San Francisco

Belinda Lee, San Francisco

Anthony Leon, San Francisco

Jonathan Levine, Emeryville

Lindsay Lutz, San Jose

Niall Lynch, San Francisco

Jesse Markham, San Francisco

Sarretta McDonough, Los Angeles

Steve McIntyre, Los Angeles

Robert McNary, Los Angeles

Greg Nylan, Irvine

Heather Nyong’o, San Francisco

Kenneth O’Rourke, Los Angles

Tom Papageorge, San Diego

Ian Papendick, San Francisco

E. Kate Patchen, San Francisco

Roxane A. Polidora, San Francisco

Elizabeth Pritzker, San Francisco

Paul J. Riehle, San Francisco

Anupama Satyasai, San Francisco

Michael Scarborough, San Francisco

Trevor Stockinger, Los Angeles

Jon Tomlin, Los Angeles

Christina Tusan, Los Angeles

Steve Williams, San Francisco

Lawrence Wu, San Francisco

Kevin Yeh, San Francisco

CLA BOARD REPRESENTATIVE

Jill Manning, San Francisco

NLS LIAISON

Brantley Pepperman, San Francisco

CHAIR’S COLUMN
Aaron Sheanin, Immediate Past Chair US Department of Justice
San Francisco, CA

The Section is proud to present the Fall 2024 edition of Competition which contains works of scholarship on topics running the gamut of antitrust and unfair competition law. This phenomenal publication would not be possible without the extraordinary work of our authors, editors, support staff, and other contributors. I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to them all.

Competition is one element of the incredible work of the Section. Over the past year, the Section has taken on greater challenges and covered more ground than we have ever done. We held two fabulously successful flagship conferences—the 33rd Annual Golden State Institute (GSI) and the 2nd Annual Consumer and Unfair Competition Law Institute (CUCLI). Save the date for both events in the coming months: GSI will be held in San Francisco on October 24, 2024, and CUCLI will be held in Los Angeles on January 31, 2025. We look forward to celebrating Paul Riehle as the Antitrust Lawyer of the Year at GSI.

The Section’s programming highlights the best in our practice. We held our Seventh Annual Celebrating Women in Competition in California last March, bringing together an extraordinary panel of attorneys from across the bar—plaintiff counsel, defense counsel, in-house attorneys, and government enforcers—to share their experiences and challenges in our practice. Our educational offerings have been tremendous as well. We’ve sponsored a variety of webinars and in-person panels covering antitrust economics, collusion through artificial intelligence, government enforcement priorities, and other topics. Our monthly E-Briefs, News and Notes has provided timely, substantive updates on key matters in our practice which has seen extraordinary developments through private litigation, public enforcement, and new state law initiatives over the past year. Once again, we’ve updated the Section’s beloved treatise, the comprehensive guide to California competition law.

The Section placed renewed focus on our diversity and new lawyer initiatives this year. We doubled our commitment to expanding our practice to students from underrepresented groups, awarding our Inclusion & Diversity Fellowships to two aspiring law students who received summer internships in government agencies, a $10,000 stipend each, and mentorship throughout the year. The Section renewed our mentorship program to match lawyers in their first eight years of practice with seasoned veterans of the antitrust and consumer bar. We engaged law students throughout the State with programming and networking events dedicated to opening the bar to so many individuals who are looking for a professional home. And the Section awarded our Lawyers to Watch Award to an inaugural class of five attorneys in the first eight years of their legal careers who have exhibited outstanding achievements in the practice of antitrust and unfair competition law during the previous year.

I am proud of these accomplishments, as they represent the incredible work of our Section. None of this would be possible, however, without the tireless dedication of the members of our Section’s Executive Committee, Advisors, and countless volunteers. I have been fortunate to observe their tremendous leadership day in and day out over the past year. I am humbled by their commitment and honored to have had the opportunity to serve as the Section’s Chair.

As has long been said, there is more work to do, and our best days are ahead of us. As I pass the baton to our incoming Chair, Shira Liu, I am confident that the Section remains in capable hands and will continue to provide extraordinary benefits for our members.

Aaron Sheanin
San Francisco, California

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of Justice.

The Journal of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the California Lawyers Association