Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section

In In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litig., No. 21-md-02981-JD, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 213670 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 28, 2022), U.S.D.J. James Donato certified Consumer Plaintiffs’ class certification motion under Rule 23(b)(3), but denied the motion pursuant to Rule 23(b)(2).[1]  Court also denied Google’s motion to exclude Plaintiffs’ economics expert testimony under Fed. R. Evid. 702 after adopting the “hot tub” approach (putting the opposing experts head to head to parse out the critical differences in their analyses).  Facts: Plaintiffs allege that Google illegally monopolizes the Android app distribution market with anticompetitive practices in the Google Play Store.  Alleged anticompetitive acts include requiring manufacturers and mobile network operators to preinstall and prominently place the Play Store on Android devices and prohibiting developers who sell their apps through the Play Store from providing any apps that would allow consumers to download a competing app distribution store. Read more

In United States v. Bertelsmann SE, No. CV 21-2886-FYP, 2022 WL 16949715 (D.D.C. Nov. 15, 2022), the District Court of the District of Columbia blocked Penguin Random House’s $2.18 billion purchase of rival publisher Simon & Schuster.  The opinion endorses the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) monopsony theory of the case, and completely rejects the defendants’ counterarguments.  After a string of defeats, the case marks the first trial win for the DOJ under the Biden administration in a litigated merger challenge. Read more

WELCOME to the DECEMBER 2022 edition of E-Briefs, News and Notes. Read more

In addition to the holiday season, it is also the slightly less festive but equally important State Bar and California Lawyers Association membership renewal season!  Signing up for another year of membership is easy.  You can renew your membership two ways: if you are renewing your license, on the “California Lawyers Association” page, make sure to check the “Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section” button, or go to the Your Account page of calawyers.org  We encourage you to not only renew your membership in the Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section for 2023, but also to take full advantage of that membership in the coming year.  Read more

WELCOME to the NOVEMBER 2022 edition of E-Briefs, News and Notes. Read more

Join our panel consisting of antitrust attorneys from law firms, government, and in-house to learn more about antitrust and competition law; the life of an antitrust practitioner; how you can become an antitrust attorney; and how to apply to our Inclusion & Diversity Fellowship program. Read more

WELCOME to the OCTOBER  2022 edition of E-Briefs, News and Notes. Read more

WELCOME to the September 2022 edition of E-Briefs, News and Notes. Read more

The Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section hosts the Golden State Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section Law Institute (GSI) each year at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. This is the Section’s marquee event and brings together private and public sector attorneys, academics, experts, judges, and law students for a multi-session conference on recent developments in the law, trials, and enforcement, followed by a cocktail reception and dinner honoring the California Antitrust Lawyer of the Year. Read more

Hoon Chun has been a prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for twenty-eight years, most recently as Head Deputy of the Consumer Protection Division. The Consumer Protection Division files a variety of civil enforcement actions with a set of common themes and goals: Read more