Partner Christie Grymes Thompson participated at the 57th Spring Meeting of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law. The meeting, held March 25 - 27, 2009, in Washington, D.C., focused on how antitrust and consumer protection law is (and is not) changing. The conference incorporated over 40 sessions covering all aspects of U.S. antitrust law and provided substantial coverage of consumer protection law and non-U.S. competition law issues. Attendees were given the opportunity to learn about the substantive law developments and the practical skills of handling antitrust risk in the current environment, and, at the same time, discover what the enforcers have in mind for the future.

Ms. Thompson was the session chair and moderator of the session titled “Patrolling Advertising Frontiers: Fighting and Defending Claims In Recent Advertising Cases.” Ms. Thompson’s session included a panel of practitioners from the Federal Trade Commission, a state Attorney General’s office, and the private bar that reviewed and discussed the new media and promotional strategies that marketers are using and the responses by enforcers and private plaintiffs.