Antitrust lawyers by day, rock stars by night. Who are the members of Side Hustle, the Antitrust Law Section’s unofficial house band? They include prominent members of the antitrust law community, with more than a century of combined experience working in government, private practice, and academia. In this episode we’ll learn what has kept Side Hustle rocking on for the past several years and why the members can't wait to play at the 2026 Spring Meeting.

With special guests:

• Daniel Francis, Associate Professor of Law, NYU Law School
• D. Bruce Hoffman, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
• Jay Jurata, Partner, Dechert LLP
• Tara Koslov, Former Deputy Director, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission; Independent Professional Coach
• Anna Rathbun, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
• Michael Weeldreyer, Senior Manager, Converged Surface Systems | Weapons | Unmanned Integration, Lockheed Martin

Related Links:

Side Hustle official website

Hosted by:

Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC and Subrata Bhattacharjee, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Why does the U.S. have two antitrust enforcement agencies—and how do they really differ in practice? In this episode, Puja Patel and Barry Nigro are joined by Debbie Majoras, former FTC Chair and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the DOJ Antitrust Division, to explore the procedural, cultural, and strategic distinctions between the FTC and DOJ. From procedural standards to enforcement style, merger review processes, and even remedy structures, Debbie reflects on her leadership experience at both agencies and offers practical insights for practitioners navigating the divide. Tune in to hear how these differences shape competition enforcement—and why they matter for clients, courts, and the future of antitrust.

With special guest:

Debbie Majoras

Hosted by:

Puja Patel, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Barry Nigro, Fried, Frank

Innovation is central to long-term economic welfare and deserves greater emphasis in antitrust policy. But can U.S. antitrust law be reshaped to be more innovation-centric? Professor Richard Gilbert joins hosts Anora Wang and Panos Dimitrellos to examine the relationship between competition and innovation, how agencies and courts have recently treated innovation, and practical tools for assessing innovation effects in mergers and conduct cases.
Listen to this episode to learn more about navigating the shift toward an innovation-centric antitrust regime, the empirical methods that can reveal innovation harms, and how to balance short-term price effects against long-term technological progress.

With special guest:

Richard J. Gilbert, Professor, University of California at Berkeley

Related Links:

• https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/4844/Innovation-MattersCompetition-Policy-for-the-High
• https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/antitrust/journal/86/issue-3/antitrust-for-innovation.pdf
• https://eml.berkeley.edu/~gilbert/Selected%20Papers/Gilbert-Melamed%20final%20pre-publication.pdf

Hosted by:

Panos Dimitrellos, Secretariat Economists LLC and Anora Wang, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Merger control regulators in the EU and around the world continue to focus on killer acquisitions. But is this concern justified in the digital sector? Professor Nicolas Petit, a leading competition law academic, joins Matthew Hall and Blair Matthews to discuss the Antitrust Law Journal article on the subject he co-authored and killer acquisitions generally. Listen to this episode to learn more about the methodology behind and findings in the paper and why the concerns on this issue may not be justified.

With special guest:

Professor Nicolas Petit, Professor, European University Institute; Visiting Professor, George Mason University, Scalia School of Law

Related Links:

• Killer Acquisitions: Evidence from European Merger Cases, Antitrust Law Journal, Volume 86, Issue 3, 22 May 2025 (subscribers)
• Federal Trade Commission press release, FTC Seeks to Block Virtual Reality Giant Meta’s Acquisition of Popular App Creator Within, 27 July 2022
• Federal Trade Commission amended complaint against Meta, 7 October 2022

Hosted by:

Matthew Hall, McGuireWoods London LLP and Blair West Matthews, Cleary Gottlieb

Merger litigation is fast, high-stakes, and often unpredictable. So what does it take to win—or avoid losing—when the government challenges a deal? In this episode, Puja Patel and James Hunsberger are joined by Kieran Gostin, a partner at Wilkinson Stekloff and a seasoned merger trial lawyer who helped Microsoft defeat the FTC in its challenge to the Activision acquisition. From trial preparation strategy to expert witness credibility, internal documents versus economic modeling, and real-world lessons from Microsoft/Activision, the conversation covers both foundational insights and tactical advice. Listen in to learn what parties, practitioners, and economists need to consider long before a complaint is ever filed—and what really moves the needle in court.

With special guest:

Kieran Gostin, Partner, Wilkinson Stekloff

Hosted by:

Puja Patel, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and James Hunsberger, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP

Antitrust enforcement can change dramatically between Presidential administrations. What makes the political winds flip between more and less enforcement? In this episode, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Kades joins hosts Anant Raut and Anna Olson to step back and draw insightful themes from the history of antitrust enforcement across Presidential administrations.

With special guest:

Michael Kades, Partner, Nachawati Law Group

Hosted by:

Anant Raut and Anna Olson

Among the recent amendments to Canada's Competition Act are new provisions targeting so-called “greenwashing,” i.e., misleading claims in advertising regarding the environmental benefits of a product. In a related development, the Competition Bureau has issued guidelines concerning its enforcement approach to environmental claims under the new law. What will be the impact of the changes on companies and consumers? In this episode, Alicia Downey and Anora Wang talk to Canadian consumer protection lawyer Candice Kloes about the amendments, the guidelines, and the increased risks and compliance burdens posed by public-facing environmental claims in Canada.

With special guest:

Candice Kloes, Counsel, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Related Links:

• Dionysios Rossi, Denes A. Rothschild, Candice Kloes, Roark Lewis, and Jessica Hennings, “False advertising and greenwashing: Bill C-59 changes to Competition Act” (July 2024)
  
  
• Candice Kloes, Roark Lewis, Denes A. Rothschild, Rick Williams, and Sadie Glickman, Canada's greenwashing crackdown: New guidelines & private right of action (July 2025)
  
  
• Canada’s Zero Plastic Waste Agenda
  
  

Hosted by:

Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC and Anora Wang, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

In June 2025, the European Commission announced a decision under which it fined two competing online food delivery companies a combined total of €329 million for cartel behaviour that took place while one company held a minority stake in the other company. The infringing behaviour included, among other things, exchanging competitively sensitive information “beyond what was needed for a corporate investor to protect a financial investment decision.” Does the Delivery Hero/Glovo decision suggest that minority shareholdings may be subject to stricter scrutiny going forward? Hosts Matthew Hall and Alicia Downey talk to Brussels-based competition lawyer Peter Camesasca about what the decision means and its practical implications for compliance counseling.

With special guest:

Peter D. Camesasca, Ph.D., Advokaat BVBA

Related Links:

• Peter Camesasca, Minority Stakes as a Conduit for Cartelization, and No Poach to Boot: The EU Decision in Delivery Hero/Glovo
• European Commission press release (2 June 2025)
• Commissioner Ribera remarks (2 June 2025)
  
  

Hosted by:

Matthew Hall, McGuireWoods London LLP and Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC