• In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. Jeff is lead counsel representing over 60 merchants, including Amazon, Starbucks, Gap, Amtrak and 7-Eleven, challenging Visa’s and Mastercard’s rules that fix interchange fees and restrict competition among card-issuing banks and networks. 
  
  
• World Association of Icehockey Players Union v. National Hockey League et al. Jeff is lead counsel representing a putative class of developmental-level hockey players and a union challenging agreements between and among the National Hockey League and the independent leagues operating under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella to eliminate all competition for developmental hockey players 20 and under in North America.
  
  
• Dinosaur Financial Group v. FactSet Research Systems, Inc. Jeff is defending FactSet against an antitrust class action that is challenging the licensing practices of the CGS business unit that FactSet acquired from Standard & Poor’s.
  
  
• LKQ Corp. v. Overall Parts Solutions. Jeff is representing LKQ in its breach of contract suit against OPS for using its business-to-business platform to improperly share LKQ’s confidential data with LKQ’s competitors.
  
  
• In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. Jeff led a group of over 60 merchants, including Walmart and Amazon, to successfully overturn a class action settlement in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that would have, among other things, released merchant claims against Visa and Mastercard in perpetuity.
  
  
• The Durbin Amendment (Section 1075 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act). Jeff was lead counsel for the Merchants Payments Coalition before the Federal Reserve Board with respect to the board’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Regulation II, Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing.
  
  
• Discover Financial Services v. Visa U.S.A. Inc. Jeff was co-lead counsel and helped secure a $2.75 billion settlement for Discover in its damages lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard regarding their exclusionary rules that barred their member banks from doing business with Discover.
  
  
• In re Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation. Jeff was on the trial team that secured a landmark settlement of $3.05 billion and a rescission of Visa’s and Mastercard’s Honor All Cards rules that tied acceptance of debit cards to credit cards.
  
  
• Coalition of Immokalee Workers v. Del Monte Fresh Produce, Inc. Jeff was lead counsel for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Fair Food Standards Council, human rights organizations dedicated to improving the working conditions for farmworkers in the United States, against a breach of contract claim brought by Del Monte Fresh Produce, Inc. Jeff represented the organizations in defending the integrity of the Fair Food Program — which has improved conditions for tens of thousands of farmworkers in Florida. The lawsuit was successfully resolved with the Fair Food Program intact.
  
  
• Insurance coverage litigation concerning American Airlines v. Sabre. Jeff was a testifying expert on antitrust law and antitrust litigation in an insurance coverage claim concerning the American Airlines v. Sabre federal and state court litigation.
  
  
• FTC v. Rambus. Jeff was appointed as a special counsel for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to assist in this landmark standard-setting case. 

Bar Admissions

New York

Eastern District of New York

Southern District of New York

Second Circuit Court of Appeals

Education

New York University Law School, LL.M. (1994)                 

York University Osgoode Hall Law School, J.D. (1991)

York University, B.A., with honors (1988)

Chambers USA, Leading Antitrust Lawyer (2024)

Super Lawyers (2007-2024)

Law & Politics (2007-2020)

Best Lawyers in America (2012-2024)

The New York Area’s Best Lawyers (2012-2024)

Who’s Who Legal (2014 and 2016)

Media Mentions

“Antitrust lawyer shares his take on lawsuit as NASCAR gets ready to play defense on charters,” Sports Business Journal (Oct. 14, 2024)

“NASCAR accused of abusing monopsony power,” Global Competition Review (Oct. 3, 2024)

“Visa and Mastercard offer $6.2bn for ‘swipe fees’ settlement,” Financial Times (Sept. 19, 2018)

“DOJ about-face in high court AmEx case has attys puzzled,” Law360 (Aug. 9, 2017)

“Second Circuit rules for Chevron, agrees $9.5 billion judgment against oil giant was product of fraud, racketeering,” Legal Newsline (Aug. 9, 2016)

“Appeals court nixes $7.25B credit card swipe fee settlement,” The Associated Press (June 30, 2016)

“Judge rejects settlement in American Express case,” The New York Times (Aug. 4, 2015)

“AmEx loses card case, which could mean deals for shoppers,” TODAY (May 1, 2015)

“American Express violated antitrust laws, U.S. judge rules,” The New York Times (Feb. 19, 2015)

“Wal-Mart, 7-Eleven back Supreme Court swipe fee challenge,” Law360 (Sept. 24, 2014)

“Sterling’s $1B antitrust suit against NBA won’t fly,” Law360 (June 2, 2014)

“Big airline merger is cleared to fly,” The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 12, 2013)

“Judge: Fed ‘inappropriately’ inflated debit card fees,” The National Law Journal (July 31, 2013) 

“Merchants appeal $7.2 billion card-fee settlement,” Reuters (Nov. 27, 2012) 

“Wal-Mart balks at $7 billion Visa/MasterCard settlement,” Forbes (July 24, 2012) 

“‘We won’ vs. ‘you lost’: Reactions to credit card settlement,” American Banker (July 16, 2012)

“Visa settlement ‘fundamentally flawed’ lawyer for convenience stores says,” Forbes (July 16, 2012) 

“Card pact’s foes arm for battle,” The Wall Street Journal (July 15, 2012)

“Banks ask NY judge to throw out Libor antitrust suits,” Bloomberg (July 3, 2012) 

“Microsoft antitrust decree ends, Google eyed,” Orlando Sentinel (May 12, 2011)

“Insight: Small banks fight card fee limits despite exemption,” Reuters (June 15, 2010)

“Do the feds have a case against Apple?,” CNET (June 10, 2010)

“U.S. approves Google’s deal for AdMob,” The New York Times (May 21, 2010)

Speeches and Events

Jeff has lectured on antitrust issues related to e-commerce and business-to-business joint ventures. He has also lectured on the interface between antitrust law and intellectual property, as well as on issues related to merger enforcement in the U.S. as compared with the EU.

Other select speeches include:

“Tying it all together” panel, Walmart Payments Summit (Oct. 15, 2024)

“Careers in antitrust” panel, Antitrust and Competition Law Society (Oct. 2, 2023)

“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave: Are class actions impossible to settle now?” panel, American Bar Association Litigation Section annual meeting (May 2, 2019)

“Interchange fee discussion: For merchants — exploring traditional card schemes vs. new players” panel, PayExpo 2015 (June 9, 2015)

“Competitive issues surrounding disruptive technologies — emerging concerns, lessons from history, and enforcement” panel, American Antitrust Institute Annual Energy Roundtable (May 27, 2015)

“Emerging Technologies and the Future of Payments,” Retail Industry Leaders Association annual conference (Oct. 16, 2014)

“The MasterCard ECJ judgment: What does it mean for the litigation and regulatory challenges facing payment cards?,” Constantine Cannon workshop (Oct. 9, 2014)

“Trade associations 2.0: New collaboration models, old risks?” panel, American Bar Association annual meeting (March 26, 2014) 

“Legal and regulatory issues facing the ATM industry,” ATM Industry Association U.S. Conference (March 1, 2012) 

“The Merchant Perspective” panel, ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum (Nov. 4, 2011)

“Legal/regulatory developments & the debit market,” International Payments Forum (May 19, 2011) 

“Interchange and other reforms: Who will have an impact?” panel, Morgan Stanley 2010 Payments Summit (May 5, 2010)

“The continuing challenge posed by Visa and MasterCard,” National Retail Federation’s General Counsels Forum (Jan. 13, 2010) 

“The future of debit in the aftermath of the merchant litigation against Visa and MasterCard,” American Bar Association Business Law Section (Aug. 8, 2004)

“In re Visa Check/MasterMoney antitrust litigation: What it means for the future of debit,” Electronic Funds Transfer Association (Oct. 1, 2003)

New York State Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section

American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section

New York University Law School
(Guest lecturer on antitrust law)

Fordham Law School
(Guest lecturer on antitrust law)

Jeff was a contributing author to the Fourth Edition of “Antitrust Adviser,” a major antitrust treatise, published by McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Jeff also drafts the annual update of the state antitrust law section of “Legal Aspects of Selling and Buying,” a leading antitrust treatise, which was cited in the Supreme Court’s Oneok, Inc. v. Learjet, Inc. opinion. 

“The FTC’s revival of its Facebook complaint shows that it’s serious,” (with Yo Shiina), Antitrust Today (Aug. 27, 2021)

“Developments in merchant surcharging: Hold the Champagne,” (with Kristian Soltes), Antitrust Today (July 29, 2021)

“NCAA’s loss in O’Bannon trial may be only a partial victory for competition,” (with David Scupp), Antitrust Today (Aug. 13, 2014)

“The Department of Justice’s last stand in the airline industry — did it blink?,” Roll Call (Dec. 2, 2013)

“Visa, returning to old ways, squelches competition in debit,” American Banker (June 26, 2012) 

“Will Apple iCloud bring an antitrust litigation storm?,” (with Ankur Kapoor), Forbes (June 10, 2011)

“The Google-Apple Antitrust Dilemma,” Forbes (July 1, 2010) 

“In praise of class actions,” The National Law Journal (April 5, 2010) 

“Court gives dominant firms more flexibility on pricing,” New York Law Journal (May 5, 2009) 

“In re Visa Check/MasterMoney antitrust litigation: A study of market failure in a two-sided market,” Columbia Business Law Review (2005)

“Wal-Mart decision illustrates merchants’ new debit power,” American Banker (Feb. 6, 2004) 

“The Microsoft settlement, another better course,” The National Law Journal (Jan. 7, 2002)