Insights

Orange County – October 18, 2024: The Recorder honored Crowell & Moring partner Chahira Solh with the Distinguished Leader Award at the annual California Legal Awards event in Los Angeles on Oct. 15. The award recognizes lawyers who have implemented major achievements in the last year. Solh was also named a finalist for the Mentorship Award in honor of the impact she has made on attorneys at the start of their careers and in the legal profession.

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (the “U.S. Antitrust Agencies”) filed a Statement of Interest supporting thirteen states’ claims that asset managers violated antitrust and consumer protection law through their environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) activities. The Statement, which opposes the asset managers’ motion to dismiss the antitrust claims, indicates the federal antitrust agencies support antitrust theories favored by anti-ESG activists, which may lead to federal investigations and lawsuits based on such theories.

Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater of the Department of Justice, and Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Mark Meador of the Federal Trade Commission, have each looked to the history of conservative voices to chart a path forward for antitrust enforcement in the second Trump Administration. Within the last three weeks, AAG Slater delivered remarks to the University of Notre Dame Law School, Chairman Ferguson delivered remarks at the International Competition Network Annual Conference, and Commissioner Meador shared his policy aims in an FTC paper and a speech to George Washington University. The enforcers emphasized the need for robust antitrust enforcement to break private monopolies and other anticompetitive arrangements. These enforcers appear to align on priorities, though differing slightly in methods, grounding their rationale in what they describe as traditional conservative values, while at the same time distancing themselves from previous Republican administrations which have emphasized anti-cartel policies and an otherwise preference for limited intervention in markets.

Over the last year, the California Law Revision Commission (“CLRC”), the influential body that makes recommendations to the legislature, has been considering sweeping reforms to California’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act. Recently, the CLRC voted to propose several changes to the Cartwright Act aimed at expanding the reach and scope of the law. Companies doing business in California should pay close attention to this ongoing process because of the potentially dramatic impact such new state laws could have, including increased exposure to antitrust litigation. Crowell & Moring is representing the California Chamber of Commerce (“CalChamber”) in monitoring, analyzing and responding to the CLRC’s recommendations.

Please join the Unilateral Conduct Committee and the Intellectual Property Committee for a webinar, "Enforcement actions and Qualcomm: What do they mean for patent owners and patent licensing?", on Feb. 28 at noon Eastern.