Overview

Don’s practice is concentrated in antitrust/trade regulation law, agricultural cooperative law, trade association representation, and complex antitrust and commercial litigation. He has defended numerous antitrust claims including major, multi-district litigation and class actions. Don has represented clients in the defense, entertainment, high technology, health care and agricultural sectors, including agricultural cooperatives, defense contractors, physician groups, trade associations and companies in the software, construction and soft drink industries. Don co-chairs the Antitrust Competition Law Practice Group.

Given the diversity of this client base, Don has developed subspecialties in criminal antitrust, health care antitrust, agricultural cooperative law, mergers and acquisitions, and administrative law. Don has served as general counsel for a major trade association in the entertainment industry. He has also represented trade associations in commercial and antitrust litigation and has assisted them in standard-setting activities, anti-counterfeit and anti-gray market enforcement programs, mergers and acquisitions, and trade show disputes.

Over the past four decades, Don has developed particular experience in agricultural cooperative law with special emphasis on the applicability and reach of the Capper-Volstead antitrust exemption. In addition to defending cooperative antitrust litigation, he routinely assists cooperatives in structuring innovative and antitrust-compliant business models to expand value-added marketing opportunities and increase member returns. In federal courts, Don has also challenged various rulemaking proceedings of the United States Department of Agriculture as arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Education

  • George Washington University Law School  (J.D., cum laude, 1970)
  • The Pennsylvania State University  (B.S., 1965)

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • Supreme Court of the United States

Professional Associations

  • National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, Antitrust Subcommittee, Chairman; Legal, Tax and Accounting Committee
  • American Bar Association, Antitrust, Litigation, Criminal Justice Sections; White Collar  Crime Subcommittee
  • The Barristers
  • The District of Columbia Bar

Honors & Awards

  • Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers
  • Martindale-Hubbell®, AV Preeminent
  • Thomson Reuter, Stand-out Lawyer, 2023
  • Client Choice™ Award, Competition & Antitrust, 2018
  • Order of the Coif
  • George Washington University Law School, Trustee Scholarship
  • Notes Editor, Vol XXXVIII, The George Washington Law Review
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation, Undercover Service Guest Lecturer, Certificate of Appreciation

Community

  • Associated Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, Board of Directors, past President
  • Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Parents’ Council, Founding Member, past Co-Chair
  • Academy of The Holy Cross, Advisory Board and past Chairman
  • St. Elizabeth’s Parish, past Chairman, Parish Council