ByGeorge!

September 2007

Law School Receives $5.1 Million for New Center


Attorney Michael D. Hausfeld, J.D. ’69, was instrumental in GW receiving a $5.1-million cy pres award to establish a Center for Competition Law.

A multimillion-dollar lawsuit settlement will result in a new Law School center, thanks to the help of a GW alumnus.

On July 10, the University received a $5.1-million cy pres award to endow a Center for Competition Law at the Law School. The award is a portion of a class-action settlement in the case of Diamond Chemical Company, Inc. v. Akzo Nobel Chemicals B.V. and Atofina Chemicals, Inc., et al., a successful antitrust lawsuit brought by attorney Michael D. Hausfeld, J.D. ’69, alleging global price-fixing schemes. Hausfeld specializes in antitrust and international law at Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., and is considered one of the country’s top civil litigators.

A cy pres award, meaning “next best use” in Latin, is awarded when full restitution to all injured parties in a class-action lawsuit is impossible or infeasible. Instead, the funds are used in a way that indirectly benefits the parties.

In his argument for the cy pres award, Hausfeld said the center will focus on the novel and special challenges to traditional antitrust enforcement due to the globalization of markets, and deterring the formation of international cartels that harm U.S. consumers.

Hausfeld says the University is forging the way for this emerging field. “I have no doubt the center is going to play a central role in developing that area of law,” says Hausfeld. “The center is in a unique position of pioneering and influencing practice in the field.”

The duties of the Center for Competition Law include sponsoring and conducting research into competition law and its private enforcement; organizing conferences for judges, executive officials, academics, and practicing lawyers; serving as a resource to promote private enforcement in competition law in the United States and abroad; and enhancing the skills of current and future private practitioners of competition law.

“GW Law’s world-class antitrust faculty and our longstanding expertise in a broad spectrum of international law issues make us the natural choice for this cy pres designation,” says Frederick M. Lawrence, dean of the Law School. “We will strive to provide research and programs that advance knowledge in the field of competition law and to reach out to the realms of private practice and government policy to make a significant practical effect.”

 


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