Recognition

For the 17th consecutive year, Bates White Economic Consulting has been recognized by Global Competition Review (GCR) on its prestigious GCR 100 listing of the world’s leading antitrust law firms and economics consultancies. Bates White was listed in the “Outstanding - Economics” category.

In GCR’s 2026 profile of Bates White, the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice, led by Partners Nitin Dua, Ales Filipi, Anna Meyendorff, and Allison Zalazar, was commended for its leadership in handling some of the most notable antitrust matters of the past year. Highlights include:

• Kroger/Albertsons merger litigation: Bates White was retained by both the US Federal Trade Commission and the Washington State Attorney General in separate legal challenges. Dr. Nicholas Hill testified in the US District Court in Oregon, ultimately leading to the court’s decision to block the merger in December 2024. In a parallel proceeding at the King County Superior Court, Dr. Dua analyzed consumer harm and divestiture efficacy, with the judge similarly ruling the merger unlawful. Both decisions resulted in the transaction being abandoned.
• US Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust suit against Google: Bates White Partner Robin S. Lee gave compelling testimony evaluating market power, anticompetitive conduct, and harm to competition in the DOJ’s case against Google for monopolization of digital advertising technology markets. In April 2025, the court ruled in favor of the DOJ, relying extensively on Dr. Lee’s analysis.
• “Sunday Ticket” antitrust litigation: Bates White advised the National Football League in its defense against allegations of antitrust harm from pricing and exclusivity in its “Sunday Ticket” package. The testimony Bates White’s expert provided exposed flaws in the plaintiffs’ economic models, contributing to the initial $4.7 billion jury verdict being vacated.
• American Express litigation: Bates White supported American Express in the consumer class action case Moskowitz v. American Express Company. Partners Eric Emch and Eric Gaier testified at trial regarding competitive effects, causation, and damages. On August 28, 2025, a jury in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York returned a verdict in favor of American Express, finding no antitrust liability or damages.

Firms are evaluated for the economics section of GCR 100 on measures including the number of dedicated antitrust economists in the firm, work over the past year on competitions matters, and the number of experts recognized in the Lexology Index: Competition report. In 2025, 10 Bates White competition economists were named to that list.