ABTL Panel Provides Insightful Discussion On The Growth Of Big-Tech And The Future Of Antitrust Law

The Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Northern California Chapter, led by Chapter President, Daniel J. Bergeson, held a dinner meeting at the Grand Hyatt, San Francisco on September 19, 2019.  The program, entitled “Return of the Octopus? Has Big Tech Gotten Too Big?” was moderated by the Honorable Susan Illston and included a distinguished panel of attorneys. Panelists Bill Baer (Arnold & Porter, LLP), Megan E. Jones (Hausfeld, LLP), A. Douglas Melamed (Stanford Law School), and Daniel G. Swanson (Gibson, Dunn & Crucher, LLP) provided ABTL members with insightful comments and opinions on the growth of big-tech and antitrust laws.  In particular, after a focus over the past forty years on consumer welfare, low prices and economic efficiency, with less attention paid to monopolization and mergers generally, the panel discussed how that school of thought is changing in light of the growth of Big Tech – the Amazons, Apples, Facebooks and Googles of this world.