FTCWatch has recently profiled David O. Fisher, AAI’s Senior Counsel. The article delves into Fisher’s background in antitrust law, including his work at the Federal Trade Commission and in private practice. The profile highlights Fisher’s dedication to advocacy, policy development, and his ongoing commitment to promoting fair competition.
Read the full interview below:
David Fisher is now senior counsel for the American Antitrust Institute, following stints at the Federal Trade Commission and as a plaintiff antitrust lawyer.
“I’ve always wanted to work in the nonprofit sector and was impressed by AAI’s reputation for working on some of the biggest issues of the day. And this job gives me the chance to work on advocacy and policy,” he told FTCWatch.
The institute has provided an antidote to those in the antitrust defense bar, who represent corporate interests and often oppose efforts to enforce antitrust laws more aggressively.
Fisher previously spent time at the FTC working as an attorney-adviser in the agency’s Office of Policy Planning.
Among the issues he worked on was the agency’s rule banning noncompete agreements.
“It was a wonderful experience because rulemaking is a unique part of what agencies do. It is interesting to dig into the comments and use them as part of the basis for advising commissioners,” Fisher said.
He declined to discuss the legal challenges to the rule, which center on whether Congress has given the agency the power to make rules on competition matters. It’s being litigated in multiple courts. A Texas federal judge ruled the FTC doesn’t have such power, but a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled the agency does.
Before joining the FTC, he spent more than three years at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll and left the law firm as a senior associate.
Fisher said a highlight of his time in private practice was his work as a co-lead counsel on securities lending antitrust litigation. His efforts resulted in a $500 million settlement including injunctive relief from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, UBS, JPMorgan, and EquiLend. The class action by several state pension funds had alleged those firms violated antitrust laws by engaging in a group boycott to prevent the modernization of the stock loan market.
“It was an interesting case substantively and ended well for our clients who got justice,” according to Fisher.
Before he entered private practice, he clerked for US District Judge Randy Crane, spent a year as a staff attorney for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and was a clerk to US Circuit Judges Thomas Vanaskie and Paul Matey of the Third Circuit.
Fisher, who earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Texas, didn’t take an antitrust class and entered the field as a way to prevent companies from exploiting people. “I am motivated by a sense of justice and standing up to powerful people who take advantage of others,” he shared.
And his lack of an antitrust background hasn’t been a huge disadvantage. “You can learn the law if you have an intellectual curiosity and are open to new things,” Fisher said.
Initially, he thought he would work on immigration or human rights law. But Fisher found antitrust law could be a field that aligns with his values.
He doesn’t anticipate AAI’s work changing dramatically if there’s a shift of partisan control in the White House next year.
“We are in an era of renewed scrutiny of antitrust, and it’s not a Democratic or Republican issue. Both sides think antitrust laws are designed to combat real harms in the modern era. AAI has an important role to be an expert resource to courts, policymakers and enforcers. Our work doesn’t change based on who is chair of the FTC,” he said.
In college, Fisher was in an honors program, majored in Spanish and linguistics, and studied in Argentina and Honduras. His interest in Spanish stemmed from growing up in Victoria, Texas, which has a large Mexican American community.
When he’s off the clock, Fisher enjoys exploring and bicycling around Amsterdam, where he lives with his husband.
The article was written by Claude Marx.
