Bonny E. Sweeney

  • Partner
  • San Francisco
  • bsweeney@hausfeld.com
  • +1 415 633 1908
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonny-sweeney-5a0b555/
Bonny Sweeney BW Photo

OVERVIEW

Bonny is a partner in the firm’s Antitrust practice and a nationally recognized trial lawyer who focuses on complex antitrust and competition matters. For more than two decades, she has litigated price‑fixing, monopolization, Robinson‑Patman Act, and tying claims, as well as related consumer protection and commercial disputes. She has served as lead and co‑lead counsel in some of the largest private antitrust class actions in the United States and has tried multiple antitrust class actions to jury verdict. Several of her cases have resulted in landmark court decisions on class certification, antitrust injury, and damages.

Bonny’s practice spans both private enforcement and government service. In private practice, she played leading roles for plaintiff classes in multidistrict litigations such as In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, In re Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, In re Parking Heaters Antitrust Litigation, and In re Aftermarket Automotive Lighting Products Antitrust Litigation, securing substantial recoveries for merchants, businesses, and consumers.

Drawing on her experience as Senior Trial/Litigation Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Bonny also brings an insider’s understanding of government enforcement.  At the Division, she trained and advised attorneys on trial practice and substantive antitrust law and served on the trial teams in United States et al. V. Live Nation/Ticketmaster and United States et al. V. American Airlines et al. In Live Nation, Bonny led the team prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States, argued several significant motions, including summary judgment, and examined a key witness at trial before the United States settled its claims. In American Airlines, she examined key fact witnesses at trial, advised members of the trial team, and participated in briefing in the successful challenge to the airlines’ Northeast Alliance under Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

Bonny is also a seasoned trial lawyer beyond government matters. She has tried several antitrust cases to verdict, including the landmark Section 1 case Law/Hall/Schreiber v. NCAA, in which college coaches challenged the NCAA’s restricted‑earnings rule. She has represented college coaches and student‑athletes in additional antitrust challenges to NCAA rules, as well as professional athletes in league disputes, and has taught sports law as an adjunct professor, giving her a unique perspective at the intersection of antitrust and sports. In addition to her antitrust work, Bonny litigates consumer fraud class actions and complex commercial disputes and maintains an active pro bono docket.

Bonny’s leadership in the field has been recognized repeatedly. She was honored as the 2023 “Antitrust Lawyer of the Year” by the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the California Lawyers Association, reflecting her decades of impact litigating and trying complex antitrust cases, her service to the bar, and her role mentoring the next generation of antitrust lawyers.

EDUCATION

Case Western Reserve University School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, Editor of the Law Review, Order of the Coif

Cornell University, M.A.

Beijing Language Institute, Chinese Language Certificate

Whittier College, B.A.

BAR ADMISSIONS

California

Massachusetts

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals

United States Supreme Court

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

AFFILIATIONS

Appointed Member, American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section Long Range & Strategic Planning Committee (2021-22)

Appointed Member, American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section Nominating Committee (2021-22)

Appointed Member, Special Ops Team: Imagining Antitrust Law Section 2.0, ABA Section of Antitrust Law (2020-2021)

Appointed Member, Presidential Transition Task Force, ABA Section of Antitrust Law (2020)

Co-Chair, Trial Practice Committee, ABA Section of Antitrust Law (2018-Present)

Advisory Board member, MLex (2018-Present)

Advisory Board Member of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, Loyola University (2009-Present)

Advisory Board Member of the American Antitrust Institute (2004-Present)

Adjunct Professor, University of San Diego School of Law (Sports and the Law) (2018)

Vice-Chair, Trial Practice Committee, ABA Section of Antitrust Law (2015-2017)

Former Chair of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the State Bar of California

WHAT OTHERS SAY

American Bar Association

  • Recipient of the Antitrust Law Section's Women.Connected 'Hall of Fame-inism' Award in 2020.

Benchmark Litigation

  • California Litigation Star, Antitrust/Competition in 2021
  • Local Litigation Star, Antitrust/Competition in 2021

Legal 500

  • Recommended Lawyer, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Plaintiff since 2019

Lawdragon

  • Leading Lawyer in America since 2019
  • Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer since 2019

Super Lawyers

  • Super Lawyer, Antitrust Litigation in San Francisco since 2007

Best Lawyers

  • Best Lawyer, Litigation - Antitrust since 2018

Other

  • Top 100 Leading Women Lawyers in California by The Daily Journal in 2014
  • Litigator of the Week by Global Competition Review in 2014
  • Outstanding Women in Antitrust/Competition by Law360 in 2007
  • Wiley M. Manuel Pro Bono Services Award in 2003
  • Distinguished Service Award by The San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program in 2003

EXPERIENCE

Antitrust/Competition

  • In re Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation – Bonny served as lead counsel for a certified class of businesses seeking compensation for admitted price-fixing by the leading packaged tuna producers.
  • In re Parking Heaters Antitrust Litigation – Bonny was co-lead counsel for businesses that purchased parking heaters directly from two companies that admitted fixing prices, resulting in a $15 million settlement.
  • In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation – Bonny previously served as co-lead counsel on behalf of merchants who challenged the fees and restraints imposed by credit card companies and their member banks.
  • In re Aftermarket Automotive Lighting Products Antitrust Litigation – Bonny served as co-lead counsel in an antitrust case on behalf of purchasers of auto lights. The case settled for more than $50 million, and resulted in a landmark decision denying a leniency applicant’s bid for reduced civil damages under the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA), because the defendant had not provided satisfactory or timely cooperation under the statute.
  • In re iPod iTunes Antitrust Litigation – Bonny served as lead trial counsel for the plaintiff class in this monopolization case, which was tried to a jury in 2014.
  • Law v. NCAA/Hall v. NCAA/Schreiber v. NCAA – Bonny was one of the trial lawyers in this case in which the jury awarded $67 million to three classes of college coaches whose compensation had been limited by NCAA rules in violation of the Sherman Act.
  • In re Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation – Bonny served as co-lead counsel in this antitrust case challenging banks’ imposition of fees on credit card purchases in foreign countries. The case settled for $336 million.

Sports & Entertainment

  • O’Bannon v. NCAA – Bonny represented a class action on behalf of current and former Division I men's basketball and FBS football players against the NCAA and its member institutions based on rules foreclosing athletes from receiving compensation for the use of their names, images, and likenesses.
  • Additional NCAA and sports related antitrust matters - Represented college coaches and student athletes in antitrust litigation challenging NCAA compensation and eligibility rules, and represented professional athletes in league disputes, drawing on her academic work teaching sports law.