Penelope Preovolos

Preovolos began work for Morrison & Foerster LLP on Oct. 13, 1980. "The date sticks in my mind because I'm superstitious, but it seems to have worked out," she said.

She has since served as lead counsel representing defendants in major antitrust cases and consumer class actions targeting clients in a range of industries including consumer electronics, technology, retail, publishing, food and beverage, cosmetics and household products.

She developed her practice just as Silicon Valley was going global. She represented Fujitsu Ltd. in a dispute with IBM in the late 1980s; MoFo staffed the case by opening a Tokyo office. "I commuted there about twice a month for awhile," Preovolos said. "That was a prelude to my Silicon Valley work."

Preovolos counts as a significant influence one of the firm's prominent litigation partners, the late Robert D. Raven. "Bob was my amazing mentor," she said. "He could convince people that this petite four-foot-eleven woman was the equivalent of his tall, thin self."

She recently obtained dismissal with prejudice of a competitor case against her client, a beverage manufacturer she declined to name. The plaintiff alleged monopolization, conspiracy and exclusive dealing. The trial court's ruling for her client was affirmed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

She also recently represented a labeling technology company in a federal antitrust case involving claims under the California Cartwright Act and the state's Unfair Competition Law in addition to federal attempted monopolization and boycott claims.

Prevolos is one of MoFo's Robinson-Patman Act experts. The 1936 statute outlaws price discrimination. She is one of the few lawyers ever to have gone to trial in a Robinson-Patman Act case. "We obtained summary judgment on all damages claims. The plaintiffs folded their tent and settled on very favorable terms."

She added, "Antitrust defense lawyers hate [the act] because its origin is populist rather than economic, though we have established that economic principles can nonetheless inform the statutory defenses to the act."

Preovolos was named the 2019 Antitrust Lawyer of the Year by the California Lawyers Association Antitrust, UCL and Privacy Section. The award carries weight especially because Robert Raven also got it, she said. "He's the only other MoFo lawyer to get it. That means a lot to me."

The citation noted Preovolos went to work at a time "when very few women became partners at big law firms in the antitrust field. Shattering through that glass ceiling, she has served as a role model for women in the antitrust bar for decades."

"I love antitrust law because it is an intellectual puzzle that never ends, law that never stops evolving, and a chance to take a deep dive into new industries and how they work," she said.

-- John Roemer