Highly Regarded Consumer Protection and Antitrust Attorney Strengthens O’Melveny’s Practice
San Francisco, June 21, 2006 – LAWFUEL – Law News Network – O’Melveny & Myers LLP announced that Thomas Brown has joined the firm as a partner in its Antitrust/Competition practice and will reside in the firm’s San Francisco office.
Brown joins O’Melveny & Myers from Visa U.S.A. Inc. where he served as Vice President, Senior Counsel. At Visa, Brown was primarily responsible for managing legal and policy issues raised by the practice known as interchange. Brown was previously a litigation shareholder with Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe.
Brown’s practice focuses on competition law and legal issues affecting the financial services industry. He has extensive experience in litigation raising competition law issues. Brown was a member of the team that defended Visa in the then-largest private antitrust case in U.S. history. He has written numerous briefs on antitrust law in trial and appellate courts, including the petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in the Robinson-Patman Act case, Osram Sylvania Products v. Von Der Ahe. Brown has represented clients on these issues before the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the Comptroller of the Currency.
Brown has written extensively on issues facing the financial services industry. His article defending the ability of consumers to make rational financial decisions, “Paying with Plastic: Maybe Not So Crazy” was recently published by the University of Chicago Law Review. The Stanford Law and Technology Review published an earlier article on patents and the payment industry. His works also address competition law issues more generally. He is a member of the team revising Antitrust Law Developments, the American Bar Association’s comprehensive summary of U.S. competition law. He is frequently invited to speak on these issues at industry and legal conferences. His views have been quoted in numerous publications, including American Banker, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Arthur B. Culvahouse, Jr., Chair of O’Melveny & Myers, stated: “Tom is an important addition to O’Melveny & Myers’ already preeminent Antitrust/Competition practice and to our strategic counseling capabilities.” Culvahouse continued, “With his extensive experience and his reputation for being at the forefront of legal issues affecting the financial services industry, Tom will add value to multiple practices throughout our firm.”
“Tom brings substantial experience to the firm in the areas of antitrust, consumer protection, and strategic counseling and has represented clients on these issues before the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Comptroller of the Currency,” said Timothy J. Muris, former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and current co-chair of O’Melveny’s Antitrust/Competition practice. Muris continued, “Tom was a member of the team that defended Visa in the then-largest private antitrust case in U.S. history. His experience also extends to appellate matters. Both in private practice and at Visa, Tom has participated in several high-profile and influential appellate matters. We are confident that O’Melveny & Myers will afford Tom the base to provide clients with the highest level of support and service.”
About his decision to join O’Melveny & Myers, Brown said, “O’Melveny & Myers is a leader in many areas of the law, including antitrust/competition, and has a well-developed plan for growing the practice and serving clients in an increasingly global market. I am very excited about playing a role in building on O’Melveny’s substantial platform in the U.S. as well as its expanding European practice and its Asian practice in China and Japan.”
Brown received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Chicago where he was a John M. Olin Student Fellow of Law and Economics and a member of the University of Chicago Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Columbia College, Columbia University.
About O’Melveny & Myers LLP
O’Melveny & Myers LLP is a values-driven law firm guided by the principles of excellence, leadership, and citizenship. With the breadth, depth, and foresight to serve clients competing in a global economy, our lawyers devise innovative approaches to resolve problems and achieve business goals. Established in 1885, the firm maintains 13 offices around the world, with more than 1,000 lawyers. O’Melveny & Myers’ capabilities span virtually every area of legal practice, including Antitrust/Competition; Appellate; Class Actions, Mass Torts & Aggregated Litigation; Corporate; Corporate Finance; Electronic Discovery; Entertainment & Media; Global Enforcement & Criminal Defense; Health Care & Life Sciences; Insurance; Intellectual Property & Technology; Labor & Employment; Mergers & Acquisitions; Private Equity; Project Development & Real Estate; Restructuring; Securities Enforcement & Regulatory Counseling; Securities Litigation; Strategic Counseling; Tax; and Trial & Litigation.
To learn more about O’Melveny & Myers, please visit: www.omm.com.
