Wednesday, September 23, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EDT | Register Now
You’re invited to join BakerHostetler’s Antitrust and Competition team for a discussion of antitrust issues in the food industry amid the current pandemic. This presentation for in-house counsel and executives at companies involved in all aspects of the food supply chain, from production to distribution to retail sales, will provide thoughtful guidance on how to evaluate and mitigate civil and criminal antitrust risk, before the government comes knocking and private buyer and competitor lawsuits follow. Panelists will walk participants through real-world scenarios to examine the various issues that could and have raised antitrust scrutiny, and provide pragmatic advice about how to avoid inadvertently running afoul of antitrust laws.
Speakers:
- Carl Hittinger serves as BakerHostetler’s Antitrust and Competition Practice National Team Leader. He focuses his practice on complex commercial and class action litigation, with a particular emphasis on antitrust and unfair competition matters. Carl has more than 40 years of experience handling “bet the company” litigation and successfully trying lengthy jury and non-jury cases. He regularly counsels clients on all aspects of civil and criminal antitrust and unfair competition law, including clients at all levels in the food and retail industries.
- Ann O’Brien advises companies and their senior executives facing antitrust, criminal cartel, or complex white collar investigations or litigation. Ann has recently advised food and retail clients on the patchwork of price-gouging laws in 38 states and the federal Defense Production Act provisions triggered by states of emergency declared due to the COVID-19 crisis. Prior to joining BakerHostetler, she spent nearly two decades at the Department of Justice, including holding senior leadership and management positions at the DOJ Antitrust Division. In these roles, Ann served as the leading authority on antitrust compliance programs and the application of U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to antitrust crimes, in addition to consulting on complex policy, charging, leniency and sentencing issues.
- Jeff Martino represents companies and senior executives facing criminal antitrust, fraud, corruption and other complex white collar investigations or litigation being conducted by federal and/or state enforcers. Jeff advises key coalitions on antitrust issues regarding supply chains affected by COVID-19. Prior to joining BakerHostetler, he served as chief of the DOJ Antitrust Division in New York for five years, where he oversaw investigations and prosecutions of individuals and corporations in price fixing, bid rigging and customer allocation matters. Jeff spent 17 years at the DOJ, many of those in senior leadership positions, including chief of the Financial Crime and Public Integrity Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona. Utilizing his experience working with regulators both internationally and domestically, competition agencies abroad, and prosecutors across the United States, Jeff is able to counsel clients operating in high-risk areas around the globe.
