Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, AGENCY NEWS: Bill Baer, David Vladeck receive FTC’s Kirkpatrick Award, (Mar 16, 2015)
Organizations Mentioned:Toys R US, Inc.
William J. Baer, who currently heads the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and formerly served as FTC Bureau of Competition director, and Georgetown Law Professor David C. Vladeck, who had served as director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, are the recipients of this year’s Miles W. Kirkpatrick Award for Lifetime FTC Achievement, the FTC announced today. The Kirkpatrick Award was established to honor individuals who made significant contributions to the FTC’s competition and consumer protection missions.
After serving in a variety of roles for the FTC from 1975 to 1980, William J. Baer was Bureau Director from 1995 to 1999. During his tenure, the FTC experienced an extraordinary number of litigation victories, including successful challenges to the proposed Staples/Office Depot merger, the proposed mergers of four of the nation’s leading drug wholesalers, and the exclusionary practices of Toys R Us. The Commission set all-time records for mergers reviewed and challenged under Baer, and dramatically improved the effectiveness of divestiture orders in merger cases.
David C. Vladeck was Bureau Director from 2009 through 2012. He forged partnerships with legal services providers and community organizations to increase the agency’s engagement with traditionally under-served consumers. Under Vladeck, the FTC stopped hundreds of online marketing scams and obtained record setting refund settlements against several national advertisers for making overhyped claims. The FTC also developed a comprehensive framework for privacy and data security policy and law enforcement during Vladeck’s tenure.
The award was named after former Chairman Miles Kirkpatrick, who advocated for FTC revitalization and reform. Previous recipients of the award include Basil J. Mezines, Robert Pitofsky, Jodie Bernstein, Caswell O. Hobbs, III, Calvin J. Collier, Thomas B. Leary, Mary Gardiner Jones, Timothy J. Muris, William E. Kovacic, and Janet Dempsey Steiger.
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