Biography • Competition

James F Rill, one of America's foremost antitrust attorneys, is actively engaged in representation of firms involved in merger and unilateral conduct activities before US and foreign antitrust agencies.

Mr Rill was assistant attorney general in charge of the US DOJ antitrust division (1989-1992) and chairman of the ABA's section of antitrust law (1987-1988). While assistant attorney general, he negotiated the US-European Union Antitrust Cooperation Agreement (1991) and issued the first joint FTC and DOJ Horizontal Merger Guidelines (1992).

Mr Rill was appointed as co-chair of the Justice Department's international competition policy advisory committee (1997), with a mandate to recommend future international antitrust policy initiatives. Recommendations in the committee's February 2000 report are being pursued in the US and overseas. Foremost among these was the proposal to create a global competition forum that would serve as a mechanism for government competition authorities to meet and confer on antitrust issues. This recommendation was background for what became the International Competition Network.

Mr Rill was chairman (2005-2007) and vice-chairman (1993-2005) of the BIAC representation to the OECD competition committee. He currently serves on the ABA section of antitrust law international task force and is vice-chairman of the competition committee of the United States Council for International Business. He was honoured (2011) by Global Competition Review and the ABA section of antitrust law with their Lifetime Achievement awards. He received the Sherman Award in 2012, the highest antitrust honour given by the US DOJ for outstanding contributions to the field of antitrust law, the protection of American consumers, and the preservation of economic liberty.