Advocacy: COSAL 2020 Wrap Up
2020 was a dark and sad time in the US and throughout the world, most prominently because of the lives lost to the global pandemic, but also because of racial injustice and race-based murders, devastating effects of climate change, and the rise of anti-democratic movements in the US and abroad. The antitrust legal community had its share of tragedy as well, with the passing of Hollis Salzman and Chris Chimicles. In this divided country, it seems the one thing we can all agree on is good riddance to 2020.
But through it all, COSAL persisted under President Rob Kitchenoff’s leadership with an awesome array of accomplishments:
We successfully achieved our number one legislative priority -- the permanent reauthorization of the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA). Throughout 2019 and 2020, there was a push by members of the antitrust defense bar and their clients to weaken ACPERA to benefit defendants involved in criminal antitrust conspiracies. COSAL fought back with arguments based on our members’ collective experience working with ACPERA for 15 years. COSAL prevailed and Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a permanent reauthorization of the law with no weakening amendments.
After COSAL’s first meeting of the year in New York City, the COVID lockdown began and our scheduled in-person meetings had to be cancelled. Undaunted, we pivoted to virtual events , and held six Zoom meetings that were well-received and well-attended. They included:
o “Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed the Way We Should Think About Antitrust Law?” with Hal Singer, Sanjukta Paul, Marshall Steinbaum, and Sandeep Vaheesan;
o A CLE on “Class Actions in the Digital Age;”
o AAI’s Diana Moss, Randy Stutz and Laura Alexander discussed their report on “The State of Antitrust Enforcement and Competition Policy in the U.S;”
o A panel discussion on the House Antitrust Subcommittee’s hearing on Big Tech entitled, “Big Tech Barons in the Hot Seat,” with Sally Hubbard, Michael Kades, Hal Singer and Mark Suter;
o A Supreme Court Roundup, featuring Tom Goldstein and Deepak Gupta.COSAL’s new Amicus Committee filed two briefs, the first-ever for COSAL;
o in Packaged Seafood in the Ninth Circuit; and
COSAL members authored the lead story in the inaugural edition of Class Action Monthly – an article entitled “Running Up Against an Illinois Brick Wall” by Rob Kitchenoff and Victoria Sims.
COSAL submitted comments to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules on Federal Rules changes necessary to deal with future national emergencies.
While all this important work was going on, COSAL became a stronger and more effective organization, with a new website (www.cosal.org) and Linked In page; five new committees; and five new law firm members.
2021 promises more growth and excitement and opportunities to get involved. Heidi Silton is our new President and we’ve already started the year shooting on all cylinders, with a new Diversity Committee, a newsletter, and prospects for antitrust reform in Congress and the agencies. 2021 also brings COSAL’s 35th anniversary, which we hope to celebrate with an in-person gala in Washington later in the year. It’s a new dawn in America and COSAL is leading the way towards stronger private antitrust enforcement and a fairer marketplace.
