Baker, Donald I.

Donald I. Baker, a former Assistant Attorney General, established an independent practice in 1994 in Washington specializing in antitrust and competition policy issues. His firm’s efforts focus on joint ventures, mergers, licensing, network disputes and international transactions. The firm works closely, on a team basis, with corporate law departments and law firms in handling litigation, arbitrations, transactions and government civil and criminal investigations.

Mr. Baker is the only modern member of the career Antitrust Division staff to be appointed Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. He was a Trial Attorney and Section Chief (1966-1971), and Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Regulated Industries, Appeals and Foreign Commerce (1972-1975), before becoming Assistant Attorney General (1976-1977). He also has served as Professor of Law at Cornell Law School (1975-1978), and as a Washington partner of two major law firms (1978-1994).

Mr. Baker was educated at Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University (A.B. cum laude 1957); Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge (B.A. in Law 1959); and Harvard University (LL.B. 1961).

Mr. Baker has widely published writings on a broad range of antitrust and economic regulation subjects. He is co-author of two treatises, Baker & Brandel, The Law of Electronic Funds Transfer Systems (1980, 1988, 1995 and 2003) and Rowley & Baker, International Mergers - The Antitrust Process (1991, 1995, 2001, and 2003). He is a member of the ICN Working Group on Merger Notification and Procedures and the Advisory Board of the BNA Antitrust and Trade Regulation Report. He has served as Co-Chairman of the ABA International Section’s Antitrust Committee (2001-2003), as a member of the ABA Antitrust Section’s NAFTA Task Force (1994-1996), and the IBA Antitrust & Trade Law Committee (Secretary, 1989-93). He is a member of the Panel of Distinguished Neutrals (arbitrators, mediators, etc.), appointed by the CPR Legal Program to Develop Alternatives to Litigation and the Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association. During the past several years, he has spoken on international competition issues in London, Vienna, Toronto, Florence, New Delhi, Lusaka, and Bangkok.

Mr. Baker’s efforts have included all aspects of antitrust counselling; representing complainants as well as targets (or merger parties) in various government investigations; corporate internal investigations; a major arbitration in Toronto; and several private antitrust cases for plaintiffs and defendants. He served as special advisor to the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine on competition policy for the financial sector and last year as adviser to the Government of Mongolia on establishing an antitrust enforcement agency in the country. He has also served as an expert witness on relief in the Microsoft case before the District Court, on comparative antitrust principles in the Color Film proceeding before the United States Trade Representative, and on intellectual property antitrust in several litigation/arbitration proceedings.

During the past year, he has submitted amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Telecommunications Industry Association and the Governments of Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom on antitrust or international law issues.