Ignited by Tech: The Next Merger (Guidelines) Wave

What factors have led antitrust enforcers and legislators to express concerns about the state of merger enforcement, particularly in digital markets? Are the horizontal and vertical merger guidelines equipped to handle antitrust issues in today’s economy? How have prior transactions by the big tech companies ignited the next wave of potential merger guidelines revisions, and which specific concerns are likely to be addressed? And what should companies across all industries expect if and when the merger guidelines are updated? 

Please join us virtually for this year's Third Annual Antitrust & Tech Conference co-hosted by The George Washington University Competition Law Center and Crowell & Moring, which will focus on how antitrust enforcement and proposed reforms to the merger guidelines and beyond may impact transactions in digital—and non-digital—markets. 

Former leading enforcers, academics, and practitioners will explore how merger activity in digital markets has led to a call for increased merger enforcement and revisions to the horizontal and vertical merger guidelines in the US; how the guidelines and enforcement may change; and what this will mean in practice for companies engaging in transactions in all industries. We will conclude with a fireside chat that will reflect on the discussions among the first two panels and what it all means for future merger enforcement.

Panelists include:

• Elizabeth Bailey, Lecturer, MBA Program for Executives at The Wharton School; Vice President and Special Consultant, NERA 
• Andrew I. Gavil, Professor, Howard University School of Law; Senior of Counsel, Crowell & Moring LLP
• Joseph Farrell, Professor, Graduate School in the Department of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley; Partner, Bates White Economic Consulting
• Shawn R. Johnson, Partner, Crowell & Moring LLP
• William E. Kovacic, Global Competition Professor of Law and Policy; Director, George Washington University Competition Law Center; and Non-Executive Director, Competition and Markets Authority 
• Robert Mahini, Senior Competition Counsel, Google
• Diana L. Moss, President, American Antitrust Institute
• Steven C. Salop, Professor of Economics and Law at the Georgetown University Law Center and Senior Consultant, Charles River Associates
  
• Carl Shapiro, Transamerica Professor Emeritus of Business Strategy, Hass School of Business and the Department of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley; Senior Consultant, Charles River Associates
• Jeane A. Thomas, Partner, Crowell & Moring LLP 
• Sandeep Vaheesan, Legal Director, Open Markets Institute 
• Joshua D. Wright, Executive Director of the Global Antitrust Institute; Professor, Department of Economics, George Mason Antonin Scalia Law School