2024 GCR Live: Cartels

Lisa Phelan, co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Group, will co-chair the 2024 GCR Live: Cartels conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 15th. The program provides a unique opportunity to connect and learn from international government enforcers, corporate counsel, and private practitioners through a variety of panel formats, and to explore key developments in cartel law and enforcement, from AI and pricing algorithms to risks of information sharing to recent cartel trials. Maria Jaspers, head of the Cartel Unit of the EU’s DG Comp, will be the keynote speaker at the conference.

Lisa will moderate the discussion “Per Se vs Rule of Reason? Courts Increasingly Struggle with Legal Analysis Standard in Cartel Case.” In this discussion, panelists will debate when and why each standard is likely to apply in a cartel case, especially where recent forays by DOJ into conduct considered more novel or aggressive, such as no poach cases, have led courts to question whether per se treatment is appropriate. The panelists will discuss the recent 4th Circuit Brewbaker decision, that found that bid rigging by companies with a vertical relationship should not be judged on a per se standard. Is this a sea change in the law, as DOJ suggests?