Dean M. Harvey
Partner, San Francisco Office
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415 956-1000
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“Antitrust laws in general, and the Sherman Act in particular, are the Magna Carta of free enterprise.”
United States v. Topco Assocs., Inc., 405 U.S. 596, 610 (1972)
Dean M. Harvey

Dean M. Harvey represents workers, consumers, and small businesses in antitrust and intellectual property cases.

Dean is among the nation’s leading advocates for workers asserting antitrust claims, and leads Lieff Cabraser’s work on labor antitrust cases. He represented a nationwide class of over 64,000 high-tech workers against Google, Apple, Intel and other tech giants for conspiring to suppress the mobility and compensation of their technical employees. This landmark case resulted in the largest recovery (by far) of any class action asserting antitrust claims in the employment context: $435 million. The Daily Journal described the case as the “most significant antitrust employment case in recent history,” adding that it “has been widely recognized as a legal and public policy breakthrough.” The case is the subject of a documentary: When Rules Don’t Apply.

Dean was Lead Class Counsel of two classes of professors of Duke University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, regarding an understanding between the schools not to compete for each other’s faculty. Those two cases resulted in settlements totaling $73.5 million and unprecedented injunctive relief, including an important enforcement role for the United States Department of Justice. Assistant Attorney General Delrahim remarked: “Permitting the United States to become part of this settlement agreement in this private antitrust case, and thereby to obtain all of the relief and protections it likely would have sought after a lengthy investigation, demonstrates the benefits that can be obtained efficiently for the American worker when public and private enforcement work in tandem.”

Dean was Co-Lead Class Counsel of a nationwide class of workers who alleged a conspiracy between the world’s two leading rail equipment suppliers to suppress the pay of their employees. That case led to total settlements of $48.95 million. He is also Interim Co-Lead Class Counsel regarding a nationwide class of skilled medical workers regarding agreements among the nation’s leading outpatient medical centers not to compete for each other’s workers.

Dean also represents consumers and small businesses in cases challenging price-fixing conspiracies, particularly regarding the exorbitant prices of prescription drugs. For example, the Cipro litigation led to a landmark (and unanimous) decision by the California Supreme Court upholding the rights of consumers to challenge backroom deals between brand name drug makers and generic manufacturers to eliminate competition for life-saving medications. That case led to total settlements of $399 million, nearly $68 million more than estimated damages. The trial court described the outcome as “extraordinary,” adding that it was “not aware of any case” that “has taken roughly 17 years,” where, net of fees, end-payor “claimants will get basically 100 cents on the dollar[.]” Currently, Dean represents a municipal public employee union and other proposed class members challenging a wide-ranging alleged conspiracy among generic drug makers to inflate the prices of many generic drugs. The conspiracy has been described as most likely the largest cartel in the history of the United States.

Dean is also Lead Interim Class Counsel for a proposed class of purchasers of bail bonds in California. This first-of-its-kind case alleges a conspiracy among sureties and bail agents to inflate bail bond prices.

Dean was a Law Clerk to the Honorable James V. Selna of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Dean has been recognized many times as among the leading antitrust litigators in California and the nation. In 2019, the American Antitrust Institute selected Dean for its “Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Practice Award,” regarding his path-breaking work challenging a faculty no-poach agreement between Duke University and the University of North Carolina. The Daily Journal has twice named him as among the “Top Antitrust Lawyers in California,” and Dean was a 2016 California Lawyer “Attorney of the Year” because of his role in the Cipro antitrust litigation. In 2006, Dean received the first annual William E. Swope Antitrust Writing Award for his paper, “Anticompetitive Social Norms as Antitrust Violations,” published by the California Law Review.

Dean is a member of the American Antitrust Institute’s Advisory Board, and serves as an Expert Participant assisting the California Law Revision Commission in its assessment of California antitrust law. Dean previously served as Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law, Competition Torts Committee, and as a member of the Law360 Competition Editorial Advisory Board.

Long form bio (click to open pdf).

  • University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Berkeley Law), Berkeley, California
    J.D. – 2006
    Law Review: California Law Review, Articles Editor, 2005 – 2006
    Law Journal: Berkeley Journal of International Law, Assistant Editor, 2004
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minnesota
    B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) – 2002
  • California, 2007
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2018
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit, 2016
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2019
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 2008
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 2020
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 2007
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, 2008
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2007
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 2008
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2022
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2018
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2010
  • American Bar Association
  • American Antitrust Institute (Advisory Board)
  • Bar Association of San Francisco
  • San Francisco Menorah Park (Board Member)
  • San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
  • State Bar of California
  • Panelist, “Draft DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines: Useful for Private Enforcement?” AAI 17th Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference, November 2023
  • Speaker, 2nd Antitrust Public/Private Enforcement Roundtable, ABA Antitrust Law Section, October 2023
  • Panelist, “Antitrust in Labor and Employment Markets,” ABA 2023 Litigation Section Annual Conference, April 2023
  • Panelist, “The Rise and Demise of the Non-Compete?” IFSEA webinar panel, February 2023
  • Panelist, “Is Labor the Next Frontier of Antitrust?” BJIL 2022 Riesenfeld Symposium, Big Money, Big Enforcement: New Frontiers in Global Antitrust Regulation, February 2022
  • Panelist, “How Does Labor Law Intersect with Antitrust Law?” ABA 14th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 2020
  • Panelist, “No-Poach: Assessing Risk in Uncertain Seas,” ABA Antitrust Law Section Virtual Spring Meeting, April 2020
  • “Competition in Labor Markets,” U.S. Justice Department Antitrust Division Public Workshop, November 2019
  • Commentator, “When Rules Don’t Apply,” Spotlights Successful Antitrust Challenges to Illegal High-Tech Labor Practices, April 2019
  • Speaker, “Current and Future Antitrust and Labor Issues,” National Association of Attorneys General, April 2019
  • Panelist, “Competition Tort Claims Around the Globe,” ABA Antitrust Section Spring Meeting, March 2019
  • Speaker, “Antitrust and Silicon Valley: New Themes and Direction in Competition Law and Policy,” Santa Clara University School of Law, March 2019
  • Speaker, “Antitrust Analysis in Two-Sided Markets,” California Lawyers Association, February 2019
  • Speaker, “Latest Developments in No-Poach Agreements,” California Lawyers Association, January 2019
  • Panelist, “Antitrust and Workers — Agreements, Mergers, and Monopsony,” American Antitrust Institute Conference, 2018
  • Speaker, “Anticompetitive Practices in the Labor Market,” Unrigging the Market Program, Harvard Law School, June 2018
  • Speaker, “Tech-Savvy and Talented: Competition in Employment Practices,” American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section Teleconference, May 2018
  • Speaker, “Tech-Savvy and Talented: Competition in Employment Practices,” American Bar Association, 2018
  • Speaker, “Antitrust for HR: No-Poach and Wage Fixing Agreements,” Bar Association of San Francisco, 2018
  • Moderator, “Competition Torts in the Trenches,” American Bar Association, 2016
  • Speaker, “Are Computers About to Eat Your Lunch (Or At Least Change the Way You Practice)?”, Association of Business Trial Lawyers Panel, August 2016
  • Moderator, “The Law and Economics of Employee Non-Compete Agreements,” American Bar Association, 2016
  • Speaker, “Lessons from the Headlines: In re: High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation,” The Recorder and Corporate Counsel’s 13th Annual General Counsel Conference West Coast, November 2015
  • Panelist, “The Future of Private Antitrust Enforcement,” American Antitrust Institute’s Young Lawyers Breakfast, 2015
  • Moderator, “From High-Tech Labor to Sandwich Artists: The Law and Economics of Employee Solicitation and Hiring,” American Bar Association, 2015
  • Panelist, “Tech Sector ‘No Poaching’ Case Update – What Antitrust Counselors and HR Departments Need to Know,” American Bar Association, 2015
  • Speaker, “Cases at the Intersection of Class Actions and Employee Protection Regulations,” Law Seminars International, 2015
  • Panelist, “If You Don’t Steal My Employees, I Won’t Steal Yours: The Antitrust Treatment of Non-Poaching and Non-Solicitation Agreements,” American Bar Association, 2013
  • Panelist, “In the Wake of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion: Perspectives on the Future of Class Litigation,” American Bar Association, 2011
  • “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2021-2023
  • “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2019-2023
  • “Super Lawyer for Northern California,” Super Lawyers, 2013-2023
  • “Employment Law Trailblazer,” National Law Journal, 2022
  • “Top Antitrust Lawyers in California,” Daily Journal, 2020, 2021
  • “Outstanding Private Practice Antitrust Achievement,” American Antitrust Institute, 2020
  • “California Trailblazer,” The Recorder, 2020
  • “Outstanding Private Practice Antitrust Achievement,” American Antitrust Institute, 2017, 2019
  • “On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers,” American Bar Association, 2017
  • “Top 40 Under 40,” Daily Journal, 2017
  • “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award,” California Lawyer, 2016
  • “Lawyers on the Fast Track,” The Recorder, 2013
  • “Rising Star for Northern California,” Super Lawyers, 2010-2012
  • “William E. Swope Antitrust Writing Prize,” 2006
  • Co-Author, Comments of the Antitrust Law Section of the ABA in Connection with the FTC Workshop on “Non-Competes in the Workplace: Examining Antitrust and Consumer Protection Issues,” April 2020
  • Co-Author, “Play Ball: Potential Private Rights of Action Emerging From the FIFA Corruption Scandal,” 11 Business Torts & RICO News 1, Summer 2015
  • Contributing Author, “The Class Action Fairness Act: Law and Strategy,” American Bar Association, 2013
  • Contributing Author, “Concurrent Antitrust Criminal and Civil Proceedings: Identifying Problems and Planning for Success,” American Bar Association, 2013
  • Co-Editor, California Class Actions Practice and Procedures, 2010 – 2013
  • Articles Editor, Competition, The Journal of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the State Bar of California, 2012
  • Contributing Author, ABA Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments, 2011
  • New Guidance for Standard Setting Organizations: Broadcom Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc. and In the Matter of Rambus, Inc., 5 ABA Sherman Act Section 1 Newsl. 35, 2008
  • “Anticompetitive Social Norms as Antitrust Violations,” 94 Calif. L. Rev. 769, 2006