Sixteen Alston & Bird Antitrust Team attorneys have been appointed to leadership posts in the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, the country’s largest and most prominent antitrust and consumer protection bar organization.
Several appointments are new for the Antitrust Law Section’s 2024–25 term that begins this month, while others are continuations of previous appointments. The appointments recognize lawyers across Alston & Bird’s offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
- Partner Kathleen Benway will continue to serve as a vice chair of the Section’s Consumer Protection Committee. She previously served on the Section’s Task Force on Federal and State Privacy Legislation. Before joining Alston & Bird, Kathleen served as chief of staff for the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and an attorney-advisor to an FTC commissioner.
- Partner Adam Biegel was appointed to the Section’s Thought Leadership in Antitrust Law and Academia Task Force. Adam has been prominent in the antitrust bar for many years, having served previously on the Section’s governing Council, leading its Corporate Counseling Committee, Long Range & Strategic Planning Committee, and In-House Counsel Task Force, and as co-chair of its Spring Meeting, the largest competition and consumer protection conference in the world.
- Partner Alex Brown was appointed co-chair of the Section’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force and a vice chair of the Section’s Privacy and Information Security Committee. He previously served as co-chair of the Section’s Task Force on Federal and State Privacy Legislation, a member of the Task Force, and a Young Lawyer Representative on the Section’s Privacy and Information Security Committee. A commercial litigator, Alex focuses his practice on antitrust, consumer protection, and data privacy matters.
- Partner Andrew Hatchett was appointed to serve as vice chair of the Section’s Legislation Committee. He previously served as a vice chair of the Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Committee and as a Young Lawyer Representative on the Section’s Joint Conduct and Pricing Conduct committees. Andrew counsels and defends clients in a wide range of antitrust litigation, including pharmaceutical companies in Hatch–Waxman cases at the intersection of U.S. patent and antitrust law.
- Partner Matthew Kent will continue to serve a three-year term on the Section’s Council. He previously served on the Section’s Advisory Board on Section Reserves and its Nominating Committee, as liaison to the National LGBT Bar Association, as chair of the Section’s Unilateral Conduct Committee and Competition Torts Committee, and as vice chair of the Compliance and Ethics Committee.
- Partner Bryan Lutz will continue to serve as a vice chair of the Trial Practice Committee of the Section. He focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation at the intersection of antitrust and technology.
- Partner Stuart Plunkett will continue to serve as vice chair of the Section’s Competition Torts Committee. He is an experienced antitrust and commercial litigator who previously served as president of the Bar Association of San Francisco.
- Partner John Snyder, former counsel to the head of the U.S. Justice Department Antitrust Division, was named vice chair of the Section’s Federal Civil Enforcement Committee. He is a former vice chair of the Section’s Antitrust Law & Economics Institute for Judges and vice chair of the Agriculture and Food Industry Committee and Insurance and Financial Services Industry Committee.
- Partner Andy Tuck was appointed to serve as co-chair of the Section’s Trial Practice Committee. Andy is a patent-barred commercial litigator focusing on federal antitrust and insurance litigation and international arbitration who previously served as co-chair and vice chair of the Section’s Intellectual Property Committee.
- Partner Valarie Williams will continue to serve as a vice chair of the Section’s Global Private Litigation Committee. She previously served as a member of the Section’s Council and the Section’s liaison to the Canadian Bar Association National Competition Law Section. Valarie has held numerous other Section leadership posts, including chair of the Books and Treatises Committee and editorial board member for Antitrust Law Developments (8th ed.), the seminal comprehensive review of federal antitrust law.
- Counsel Abigail Cessna was appointed as a vice chair of the Section’s Unfair Competition Committee. She previously served as a vice chair of the Section’s Intellectual Property Committee and a Young Lawyer Representative to that committee. Abigail focuses her practice on antitrust compliance counseling and merger control issues.
- Senior associate Laura Komarek will continue to serve as a vice chair of the Section’s Agriculture and Food Committee. She previously served as a Young Lawyer Representative to the Section’s Cartel and Criminal Practice Committee and the Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project, a Section program that has funded summer internships in the offices of state attorneys general nationwide for law students interested in consumer protection issues since 2004. Laura represents clients in state and federal courts across the country and has experience with a wide range of litigation matters, including antitrust, complex commercial litigation, consumer class actions, and government and internal investigations.
- Senior associate Robert Poole will continue as a Young Lawyer Representative to the Section’s Joint Conduct Committee. He focuses his practice on federal commercial litigation and government investigations.
- Senior associate Tania Rice will continue as a Young Lawyer Representative to the Section’s Civil Practice and Procedure Committee. She has experience handling a wide variety of complex litigation, including class action, antitrust, and insurance litigation.
- Senior associate Troy Stram will continue as a Young Lawyer Representative to the Section’s Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Committee. He previously served as a Young Lawyer Representative on the Section’s Long Range and Strategic Planning Committee. Troy represents clients in state and federal courts across the country and has experience with a wide range of litigation matters, including antitrust, RICO, complex commercial litigation, and TCPA litigation.
- Associate Trenton Hafley will continue as a Young Lawyer Representative to the Section’s Trade, Sports & Professional Associations Committee. He focuses on providing a wide array of clients with antitrust services, including those involving merger clearances, litigation, and counseling.