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ARTICLE · 27 JUNE 2024

The Future Of Cartwright Act Prosecutions

WilmerHale
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California Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Paula Blizzard recently announced that the California Attorney General's Office (AGO) intends to "reinvigorat[e] criminal prosecutions" under California's Cartwright Act...

United StatesAntitrust/Competition Law
Nana Wilberforce
Nana Wilberforce
Lauren Ige
Lauren Ige
Mia Akers
Mia Akers
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California Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Paula Blizzard recently announced that the California Attorney General's Office (AGO) intends to "reinvigorat[e] criminal prosecutions" under California's Cartwright Act, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 16700 et seq. Her announcement signals a significant change from long-standing California antitrust enforcement—the California AGO has not brought a criminal prosecution under the Cartwright Act in 25 years. But this shift is consistent with a trend among state attorneys general to play a more active role in criminal antitrust enforcement. Gwendolyn Cooley, chair of the Multistate Antitrust Task Force for the National Association of Attorneys General and Wisconsin's AAG for antitrust, pointed out at the 2024 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting that 44 states have the authority to bring criminal charges for antitrust violations and suggested that there would likely be more state criminal enforcement in the coming year.1

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