Heather M. Cooper

Heather Cooper is an associate in the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group and the White Collar Civil Fraud Defense Practice Group in the firm's Los Angeles office.

Areas of Practice

Ms. Cooper practices in the areas of antitrust and trade regulation and white collar defense.  She provides counseling and representation with respect to potential mergers and the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, joint ventures, standard setting organizations, trade associations, benchmarking, distribution agreements and arrangements, advertising and pricing policies, as well as allegations of conspiracy, monopoly, exclusive dealing, unilateral conduct, unfair competition and price discrimination. Ms. Cooper also advises on the enforcement of intellectual property rights and has experience with Canadian competition law, international commercial arbitration and international trade and NAFTA matters and legal disputes.

While at her previous firm, Ms. Cooper was a member of the antitrust team representing the acquiror in the largest merger in Canada in 2003. Her participation in that matter included analyzing U.S., Canadian and European competition law and drafting key submissions filed with the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Ms. Cooper is a dual qualified U.S. and Canadian attorney.  In addition to speaking French, Ms. Cooper is qualified to practice law in the French language by the Office québécois de la langue française, the province of Quebec's French language regulatory agency.

Education

• LL.B., B.C.L., McGill University Faculty of Law, 2002, with distinction, Editor, McGill Law Journal, research assistant to three international trade law and economics professors, Vice-President, McGill International Law Society
• B.A., University of Washington, 1996, Dean's List

Clerkships

• Law clerk for the Honorable André Rochon, Justice of the Court of Appeal of Quebec

Admissions

• State Bar of California
• Bar of Quebec

Languages

• French

• Mergers and Acquisitions: Represented numerous companies on antitrust aspects of such transactions, HSR filings, and government investigations. Frequently provide transactional advice regarding antitrust and competition issues to California Portland Cement, Eveready Battery Company, TaylorMade adidas Golf, and others
  
• Joint Ventures, Standard Setting Organizations, Trade Associations and Benchmarking: Counsel companies in structuring and participating in joint ventures, standard setting organizations and other contacts between competitors to manage potential antitrust risks. Design and provide antitrust compliance training for such undertakings and represent same. Representative clients include adidas USA, Playboy, CARETS, Better Cotton Initiative and Interstackable Standards Setting Group
  
• Litigation: Represent companies with respect to allegations of conspiracy, monopolization, attempted monopolization, resale price maintenance, tying and unfair competition
  
• Product Distribution Practices: Frequently provide antitrust and competition advice regarding product distribution, pricing and advertising practices to TaylorMade adidas Golf, Eveready Battery Company, Leica Camera, adidas USA, Hidden Villa Ranch, ONE Industries and others
  
• White Collar Defense: Represent subjects of money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud, RICO conspiracies and tax evasion investigations and prosecutions
  
• Prior to attending law school, Ms. Cooper worked on international human rights advocacy campaigns and program initiatives for the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch with which she maintains affiliation as Chair of the HRW Young Advocates.

Memberships

• Chair of Los Angeles County Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law and Unfair Business Practices
• Member, ABA Antitrust Section and its International Antitrust and Foreign Competition and Computer and Internet Committees
• Member, Antitrust Section of the State Bar of California
• Member, National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association

Articles

• What will a new FTC mean for Whole Foods?, Natural Food Merchandiser, January 22, 2009
• The Cartwright Act at 100 - A History of Complementary Antitrust Enforcement - A Celebration, Competition, Vol 17, No. 2, Fall 2008
• Associate Pictures Trapeze Hobby as Recruiting Event, December 19, 2006

• Co-author, "ABA Antitrust Law Section, State Antitrust Practice and Statutes," 2009 (with Don T. Hibner, Jr.)
• "The Cartwright Act at 100-- A History of Complementary Antitrust Enforcement--A Celebration", 17 Competition L. J. 81 (2008) (with Don T. Hibner, Jr.)
• "Product Markets in Merger Cases: The Whole Foods Decision," 7 Antitrust Source 1, October 2007 (with Carlton Varner)
• "Market Competitiveness: Does State Antitrust Law Need To Be Updated?", 15 Competition No. 1 (Spring/Summer 2006) (with Don T. Hibner, Jr.)
• Co-author, "Section 11 of the Competition Act: Time to Revisit and Reset the Balance in Criminal Investigations", Canadian Competition Record, Spring 2004
• Editor and translator, The Law of Subsidies under the GATT/WTO System (Kluwer Law International, 2002)

Antitrust Law Blog

• "A Window into Washington: Proposed Legislation to Prohibit Resale Price Maintenance Agreements", April 28, 2010
• "Lower Filing Thresholds for HSR Act Premerger Notifications and Interlocking Directorates Announced", January 25, 2010
• "Schering-Plough's $41 Billion Acquisition of Merck Clears Antitrust Hurdles With Consent Order", December 16, 2009
• ""Per Se" or Not "Per Se" - An Historical "Quick Look" at Minimum RPM Under California Law", November 10, 2009
• "Debate on Resale Price Maintenance Heats Up", November 10, 2009
• "What a Babies "R" Us' Class Action Lawsuit Can Teach Us About Successful Distribution Strategies for the Current Legal and Economic Climate", September 3, 2009
• "Discovery Executive Fined $1.4 Million For HSR Act Violations", August 12, 2009
• "PSKS Knocked Out of Court But Not Giving Up the Fight Against Leegin - This and Other Recent Developments in Resale Price Maintenance", May 13, 2009
• "Make Me a Supermodel: Canada's Antitrust Laws Get a Whole New Look", April 13, 2009
• "The Food Fight is Over: Whole Foods and FTC Settle Dispute Over Merger of Organic Markets", April 13, 2009
• "New Filing Thresholds for HSR Act Premerger Notifications", February 10, 2009
• The Cartwright Act At 100 - A History Of Complementary Antitrust Enforcement - A Celebration
• Whole Foods' and FTC's Litigation Far From Checkout
• New Filing Thresholds for HSR Act Premerger Notifications
• International Highlights for January 2008
• The Rules are the Rules: DOJ Obtains Fine for Insubstantial Noncompliance with HSR Act
• International Highlights for August 2007
• Class Action Complaint Passes Twombly's Stricter Pleading Test, Stinging Syringe Maker
• Supreme Court Overrules 96 Year-Old Rule in Dr. Miles and Holds Vertical Price Agreements Are Neither Per Se Illegal Nor Per Se Legal, But Subject to Case-By-Case Test
• Taxicab Company's Section 1 Challenge to Exclusive Dealing at Airport Yields No Fare
• Sixth Circuit Examines Functional Availability of Market Share Discount Programs and Finds No Price Discrimination in Same
• Federal Circuit Holds Threats of Infringement Action Against Plaintiff's Customers Are Sufficient to State a Walker-Process Section 2 Claim
• International Highlights for December 2006
• After Nearly 100 Years, Will The Sun Soon Set on Dr. Miles? The Supreme Court to Reconsider the Rule that Holds Vertical Price Fixing Per Se Illegal
• Canada's Federal Court of Appeal Adopts "But-For" Test For Exclusive Dealing and Abuse of Dominant Position Claims, Causality and Intended Effect on Competition Irrelevant to the Determination of "Anti-Competitive"
• Antitrust Tying Arrangements: "Per Se or Not Per Se - That Is The Question."  Buyers' Real Estate Agent Fails to Offer Evidence of Anticompetitive Foreclosure In the Tied Product Market
• Canada Debates Expanding Private Access to Competition Tribunal
• To "Pledge" is to Agree and Other Lessons for Manufacturers In How to Flunk Out of Lawful Resale Price Maintenance
• Injury To Competition A Necessity To Assert A Sherman Act Claim
• Merging Parties Foreclosed From Obtaining Confidential Guidance and Informal Advice From Britain's Office of Fair Trading
• Canadian Brewery Pleads Guilty To Criminal Price Maintenance Charge
• New York Stock Exchange's Termination of Member Does Not Constitute an Illegal Group Boycott - Rule of Reason Is Correct Standard For New York Stock Exchange's Conduct
• Eleventh Circuit Remands Sherman Act § § 1 And 2 Challenges To Anticompetitive Patent License Agreement, Notwithstanding Noerr-Pennington Immunity To Infringement Action
• Public Comments Lead Canada's Competition Bureau To Withdraw Information Bulletin On The Regulated Conduct Defence
• Ninth Circuit Puts The Wood To Weyerhaeuser On Predatory Overbidding
• Canada: Commissioner Of Competition Seeks To Intervene In Appeal Of dismissal Finding That Mere Assignment Of Patent Rights Is Not Actionable Under The Competition Act
• Amendments To United States Sentencing Guidelines -- Antitrust Penalties Likely To Increase; Guidelines' Advisory Status Unchanged

Speeches

• Guest lecturer, University of Southern California School of Law, April 2, 2009
• Moderator, "The Future of Resale Price Maintenance: How Close to Per Se Lawful Will We Get?", Los Angeles County Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law and Business Practices, Los Angeles, California, September 11, 2007
• Moderator, "Market Competitiveness: Does State Antitrust Law Need to be Updated? Or Have the Courts Already Done Enough?", Los Angeles County Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law and Unfair Business Practices, January 27, 2006