AG Kaul Announces Chair Of Multistate Antitrust Taskforce

Attorney General Josh Kaul announced on Thursday, September 16, that Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Gwendolyn J. Lindsay Cooley has been selected to chair the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Multistate Antitrust Taskforce. The chair leads a group of attorneys across the country who investigate and prosecute antitrust cases.

“As this announcement reflects, Assistant AG Cooley is a national leader on antitrust enforcement,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “Many congratulations to her as she steps into this important role that will help shape the protection of competition and consumers nationwide.”

Notable cases from Cooley’s work at the Wisconsin Department of Justice:

• Dean/DFA:  In 2020, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) announced that it was going to acquire the nationwide assets of Dean Foods out of bankruptcy.  Wisconsin did an independent investigation and forced the company to divest the two plants that would most affect Wisconsin farmers: one in DePere, Wisconsin and one in Harvard, Illinois.  The merger was approved late last fall.
• T-Mobile: Wisconsin negotiated a $15 million settlement with T-Mobile after a group of states sued to block the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile alleging that it would reduce the number of competitors in the cellular provider market from four to three.
• Suboxone: Wisconsin currently leads a 42-State coalition of attorneys general who allege that the maker of Suboxone, an opioid treatment drug, destroyed the market for its own product in order to prevent generic competition.  The case was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2016 and remains in litigation. 

This is the second time in the history of the NAAG Antitrust Taskforce that a person from Wisconsin has been selected as the chair.

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