Daniel S. Bitton

SAN FRANCISCO -- As an antitrust litigator, Daniel S. Bitton relishes his cases' complexities. He often defends companies against claims of monopolization, especially tech and life sciences companies. Antitrust actions involving those industries "are often the most interesting and challenging ones," he said.

I"My practice is built around industries that get a lot of scrutiny but are very complicated," he added. "I love that. ... It's a lot of four-dimensional chess to think through." He's been especially busy the last couple of years defending Alphabet in antitrust litigation brought by Texas and several other states challenging Google's advertising technology services. As one of Google's lead counsel, he plays a key role in developing the company's legal strategy. In re: Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, 1:21- md-03010 (S.D. N.Y., filed Aug. 12, 2021).

IBitton has worked with Google overall for a dozen years. He even spent a year as in-house counsel under a secondment arrangement from his firm in 2012-13.

IIn the ad tech investigations and litigation, his more significant role comes from his having become something of an expert in the software at issue. He said he and his team can talk shop with the Google engineers and others in the business.

I"Subject matter expertise has been an incredible asset, and it took a lot of time to develop," Bitton said. "Part of why I like antitrust in the first place is the opportunity to really delve into how certain industries or sectors in the economy work both in terms of the technology and the economics." Like the Google case, a number of his cases have been in the news.

IIn a high-profile case filed just last month, he is assisting partner Craig Reiser to defend five-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen from a defamation and antitrust action by young chess grandmaster Hans Niemann, who has been accused of cheating in a major tournament. Niemann v. Carlsen, 4:22-cv-01110 (E.D. Mo., filed Oct. 20, 2022). In addition to litigation, Bitton's practice also encompasses counseling major corporations on the antitrust issues in mergers and acquisitions.

IWhile he has represented McKesson Corp.'s subsidiary RelayHealth in an FTC investigation and successfully settled a private antitrust action against it in February, he also has advised McKesson on numerous acquisitions and other transactions. Currently, he represents it in a joint venture combining its US Oncology Research unit with HCA Healthcare's Cancer Institute.

I"It's exciting to be able to weigh in on those sorts of collaborations that move oncology research forward," he said.

IIn December, Bitton represented Stanley Black & Decker in a $1.6 billion deal to complete its acquisition of outdoor power equipment maker MTD Products Inc. as well as its $375 million acquisition of the maker of Hustler and Big Dog commercial turf care and mower products.