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Profile Picture

Rachel S. Brass

Rachel
Brass

Partner

CONTACT INFO

rbrass@gibsondunn.com

TEL:+1 415.393.8293

FAX:+1 415.374.8429

San Francisco

555 Mission Street, Suite 3000, San Francisco, CA 94105-0921 USA

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PRACTICE

Antitrust and Competition Appellate and Constitutional Law Class Actions Labor and Employment Litigation

BIOGRAPHY

Rachel S. Brass is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and co-chair of the Firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice Group.  She is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department where her practice focuses on investigations and litigation in the antitrust, labor, and employment areas.  Ms. Brass has extensive experience representing international and domestic clients in high-stakes appellate litigation in the Supreme Court, as well as Federal and state appellate courts throughout the United States.

Ms. Brass’s extensive antitrust and competition experience includes litigation and trial of indirect and direct purchaser class actions, international and domestic cartel matters, mergers and acquisitions, grand jury investigations, and other antitrust investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, United States Department of Justice, European Commission, Canadian Competition Bureau, Korean Fair Trade Commission, Japan Fair Trade Commission, Administrative Council for Economic Defense – CADE, and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.  Ms. Brass has represented clients in a number of industries, including semiconductors, disk drives, communications, display panels, and other high technology, auto parts, package delivery, transportation, agriculture, and retail, among others.  She has significant experience in international matters and teaches an upper-level course in International Antitrust Law at Berkeley Law School.

In addition to her international competition practice, Ms. Brass has successfully represented companies in single plaintiff and class action Title VII, ADA, FEHA and Unruh Act discrimination claims, as well as wage and hour class actions.  Representative matters include persuading the United States Supreme Court to reverse the certification of the largest class action brought under Title VII; litigating the scope of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower protections; persuading the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to vacate the certification of the largest class action brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act on interlocutory review; obtaining clarification of the standards for the business necessity defense and vacatur of a district court’s adverse post-trial rulings under the Americans with Disabilities Act from the en banc Ninth Circuit; and obtaining and sustaining a favorable district court ruling rejecting plaintiffs’ counsel’s claim for attorney’s fees in a California Fair Employment & Housing Act case.

Ms. Brass has repeatedly been recognized for her antitrust work by numerous professional  publications.  In 2022, she was named a Competition MVP by Law360, which highlighted her successful defense at the class certification stage of major fast-food franchises against so-called “no poach” litigation and victory for Apple in the Epic Games litigation.  Ms. Brass was also featured as one of Lawdragon’s 2023 “500 Leading Litigators in America.” Expert Guides named her to its 2022 Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law.  Global Competition Review named Ms. Brass to its list of “Top 100 Women in Antitrust” in 2021, the Daily Journal included her on its 2021 and 2022 “Top Antitrust Lawyers” lists, and Women Competition Professionals in Americas selected Ms. Brass among its 2019 “40 in their 40” list.  In its annual Top Verdicts of California 2018 feature, the Daily Journal recognized Ms. Brass for her complete defense jury verdict, a first of its kind class action trial of direct and indirect purchaser antitrust claims.  In 2018, she was selected by The American Lawyer as a “Litigator of the Week” in connection with that same win.  Ms. Brass has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in Litigation-Antitrust since 2013, identified in the Antitrust category by Super Lawyers, and ranked in the California Antitrust category by Chambers USA.  Concurrences Review recognized Ms. Brass at its 2017 Antitrust Writing Awards for her article “Practical Advice for Avoiding Hub-and-Spoke Liability,” which was selected as the winner in the Business category, Concerted Practices section.  The article originally appeared in the October 2016 issue of The Antitrust Source. 

Ms. Brass speaks regularly on antitrust and complex class action issues, including programs for the United States Department of Justice, The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the State Bar of Arizona, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and the Bar Association of San Francisco.  She is the immediate past-President of the Northern California Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and serves on the Board of Directors of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that protects unaccompanied children who enter the US immigration system alone to ensure that no child appears in court without an attorney.  She is on the Advisory Board of the University of Minnesota Law School.  She served as Editor-in-Chief of the Antitrust Report from 2008 to 2016.

Ms. Brass received her law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota in 2001.  She was Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Journal of Global Trade, a member of the Order of the Coif, and recipient of the Ralph M. McCareins Antitrust Prize.  Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Brass served as a law clerk for the Honorable James M. Rosenbaum, United States District Court, District of Minnesota.  Ms. Brass graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Ms. Brass is admitted to practice in the State of California.  She is a member of the firm’s Hiring, Professional Development, and Bay Area Diversity Committees, and maintains an active pro bono practice representing clients in cases involving civil rights, immigration, and other matters.

EDUCATION

University of Minnesota - 2001 Juris Doctor

Washington University in St. Louis - 1996 Bachelor of Arts

ADMISSIONS

California Bar

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Client Alert - January 24, 2023 | FTC Publishes Revised Hart-Scott-Rodino Notification Thresholds for 2023
Firm News - January 11, 2023 | Who’s Who Legal 2023 Thought Leaders – Competition Recommends Six Gibson Dunn Partners
Firm News - January 9, 2023 | Who’s Who Legal Recognizes 39 Gibson Dunn Partners in its Inaugural Thought Leaders USA Guide
Client Alert - January 5, 2023 | FTC Proposes Rule to Ban Non-Compete Clauses
Firm News - November 16, 2022 | Rachel Brass, Jay Srinivasan and Daniel Swanson Named Among California’s Top Antitrust Lawyers 2022
Client Alert - November 14, 2022 | FTC Announces Broader Vision of Its Section 5 Authority to Address Unfair Methods of Competition
Firm News - October 6, 2022 | Twenty-Two Gibson Dunn Lawyers Recognized in Expert Guides’ Women in Business Law
Firm News - October 4, 2022 | Lawdragon Names 38 Partners Among its 2023 500 Leading Litigators in America
Firm News - September 6, 2022 | Law360 Names Eight Gibson Dunn Partners as 2022 MVPs
Firm News - August 2, 2022 | Who’s Who Legal Competition 2022 Recognizes 14 Gibson Dunn Partners
Client Alert - August 1, 2022 | Settlement Agreement with U.S. Department of Justice Demonstrates the Risks Associated with Third-Party Information Sharing
Client Alert - July 14, 2022 | EU General Court Sides with European Commission: Merger Deals That Do Not Meet National Thresholds Can Be Examined by the Commission
Client Alert - May 5, 2022 | U.S. FTC Previews Potentially Significant Changes to the HSR Filing Form
Client Alert - May 2, 2022 | DOJ Antitrust Division Head Promises Litigation to Break Up Director Interlocks
Client Alert - April 18, 2022 | Employers Beware: Aggressive and Expansive Labor-Focused Antitrust Enforcement Will Remain The New Normal
Client Alert - April 12, 2022 | U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission Host Antitrust Enforcers Summit
Client Alert - March 2, 2022 | Updates and Trends in Vertical M&A Transactions
Client Alert - January 19, 2022 | Federal Antitrust Enforcers Announce Review of Merger Guidelines
Article - December 16, 2021 | National Football League tackles antitrust claims
Firm News - November 19, 2021 | Rachel Brass and Daniel Swanson Named Among California’s Top Antitrust Lawyers 2021
Firm News - September 28, 2021 | Rachel Brass and Cynthia Richman Named Among GCR’s Top Women in Antitrust 2021
Firm News - July 28, 2021 | Who’s Who Legal 2021 Recognizes Gibson Dunn Partners in Competition, Hospitality and Product Liability Defense
Client Alert - July 9, 2021 | President Signs Executive Order Directing Agencies to Address Wide Range of Businesses’ Competitive Practices, Including Non-Compete Agreements
Client Alert - January 25, 2021 | California Attorney General End of Term Update
Firm News - January 14, 2021 | Who’s Who Legal 2021 Recognizes Gibson Dunn Partners in Arbitration, Tax and Competition
Webcasts - January 13, 2021 | Webcast: Antitrust Enforcement under the Biden Administration
Client Alert - December 15, 2020 | U.S. Congress Passes the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2019
Firm News - December 15, 2020 | Who’s Who Legal Competition 2020 Recognizes 18 Partners
Client Alert - August 4, 2020 | California Supreme Court Answers Important Questions About The Bounds Of Legitimate Business Competition Under California Tort And Antitrust Law
Firm News - June 24, 2020 | Rachel Brass and Dan Swanson Named Among California’s Top Antitrust Lawyers 2020
Client Alert - June 24, 2020 | Expiration of Federal Law Limiting Antitrust Civil Exposure Creates Uncertainty for Cartel Self-Reporting
Client Alert - April 14, 2020 | Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Issue Joint Statement Regarding COVID-19 and Competition in Labor Markets
Client Alert - March 12, 2020 | Antitrust Implications of COVID-19 Response
Webcasts - February 27, 2020 | Webcast: Antitrust Update on No-Poach and Non-Compete Agreement Enforcement
Client Alert - January 28, 2020 | U.S. Federal Trade Commission Considers Rulemaking on Non-Compete Clauses in Employment Contracts
Client Alert - November 11, 2019 | DOJ Announces a New Strike Force to Combat Antitrust Misconduct in Government Procurement
Firm News - August 19, 2019 | 12 Gibson Dunn Partners Named Lawyers of the Year
Firm News - August 15, 2019 | Gibson Dunn Lawyers Recognized in the Best Lawyers in America® 2020
Client Alert - July 23, 2019 | DOJ Antitrust Division Will Now Consider DPAs for Companies Demonstrating “Good Corporate Citizenship”
Firm News - June 7, 2019 | Nineteen Gibson Dunn attorneys recognized by Who’s Who Legal Competition 2019
Firm News - December 20, 2018 | Rachel Brass and Scott Edelman Named Litigators of the Week
Article - September 26, 2018 | Lexology Navigator – Cartels
Firm News - July 9, 2018 | Who’s Who Legal Recognizes 24 Gibson Dunn Attorneys
Client Alert - July 6, 2018 | Update on California Immigrant Worker Protection Act (AB 450)
Webcasts - July 24, 2017 | Webcast: Navigating Employment Issues: Sexual Harassment, Sex Discrimination and Other Potential Pitfalls in The Workplace
Client Alert - May 11, 2017 | Two Employment Law Developments Create Risk of Shareholder Action for Public Companies
Client Alert - March 16, 2017 | Court Orders Block Implementation of New Immigration Executive Order
Client Alert - March 7, 2017 | Analysis of March 6, 2017 Executive Order on Immigration
Client Alert - February 10, 2017 | Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Opinion Upholding Nationwide TRO of January 27 Immigration-Related Executive Order
Client Alert - February 1, 2017 | Recent Developments Regarding Executive Order on Immigration
Client Alert - January 30, 2017 | President Trump Issues Executive Order on Immigration
Client Alert - January 10, 2017 | 2016 Year-End Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Article - October 19, 2016 | Practical Advice for Avoiding Hub-and-Spoke Liability
Client Alert - July 11, 2016 | 2016 Mid-Year Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Client Alert - January 7, 2016 | 2015 Year-End Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Webcasts - December 17, 2015 | Webcast – Recent Developments in Equal Pay Laws – What Employers Need to Know
Client Alert - July 13, 2015 | 2015 Mid-Year Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Client Alert - January 8, 2015 | 2014 Year-End Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Client Alert - July 10, 2014 | 2014 Mid-Year Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Client Alert - January 9, 2014 | 2013 Year-End Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Client Alert - September 1, 2013 | 2013 Criminal Antitrust Update
Client Alert - July 11, 2013 | 2013 Mid-Year Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Client Alert - June 25, 2013 | U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms Enforceability of Class Arbitration Waivers
Client Alert - January 7, 2013 | 2012 Year-End Criminal Antitrust and Competition Law Update
Client Alert - July 11, 2012 | 2012 Mid-Year Criminal Antitrust Update
Client Alert - January 16, 2012 | From Antitrust to FCPA Liability
Client Alert - January 9, 2012 | 2011 Year-End Criminal Antitrust Update
Client Alert - April 27, 2011 | U.S. Supreme Court Finds That Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements Are Enforceable Under the Federal Arbitration Act
Client Alert - April 5, 2011 | Seventh Circuit Issues Important Decision on Key Class-Certification Issues
Client Alert - July 24, 2009 | Third Circuit Issues Important Decision Regarding Class Certification and Americans with Disabilities Act
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