Competition Law Conference

Kerry Jones, an associate and member of Morrison Foerster’s Antitrust Practice Group, spoke at the 2nd Competition Law Conference hosted by USC Marshall School of Business and Analysis Group on May 18, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.

The conference provided insight on recent developments in antitrust law, and was widely attended by private practitioners, government attorneys, and in-house counsel. Topics ranged from the traditional: cartels, policy developments, and mergers, to areas of increased enforcement focus such as interlocking directorates, labor and employment, and the regulation of Big Tech, to cutting-edge topics such as ESG. The keynote speakers were Reiko Aoki, Commissioner, Japan Fair Trade Commission, and Michael Kades, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Section, U.S. Department of Justice.

Kerry joined Elai Katz (Cahill), David Emanuelson (Intel), Alan Ryan (Freshfields), and Rebecca Kirk (Analysis Group) on “The New Merger Enforcement” panel to discuss global trends toward aggressive merger enforcement and reliance on non-traditional theories of liability, moderated by Xanthe Ranger (American Securities). The discussion began with a review of recent decisions in the Illumina/Grail, United Health/Change, and Microsoft/Activision transactions, including the lessons that can be learned—especially for transactions requiring approval from regulators in multiple jurisdictions such as the U.S., U.K., and E.U.. The panel then turned to a discussion of the benefits that can come from the need in the U.S., as opposed to some other jurisdictions, for antitrust regulators to have to prove their case in court, in front of a neutral arbiter. This is especially true given that courts appear to have a more favorable view of merger remedies than the DOJ. Kerry warned that parties can only take advantage of those benefits if they have negotiated an agreement that obligates them to fight for the months if not years that it takes a merger case to end up before a judge. The panel ended with a discussion of the role for M&A in a company’s strategy given the aggressive and uncertain regulatory environment.