DOJ Proposes Kirkland's Mark Filip as Live Nation-Ticketmaster Compliance Monitor
Kirkland & Ellis, the Justice Department lawyers said Tuesday in a court filing, was "well-qualified" to support Mark Filip as the monitoring trustee.
February 18, 2020 at 02:57 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
Mark Filip appearing for his confirmation hearing for deputy U.S. attorney general in 2007. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
Updated at 6:59 p.m.
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday recommended Mark Filip, a Kirkland & Ellis partner and former deputy attorney general, to monitor Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster's compliance with the terms of a decade-old agreement that allowed the concert giant and ticketing service company to merge.
The recommendation comes weeks after the Justice Department, along with several state attorneys general, alleged that Live Nation violated the terms of the 2010 settlement by pressuring concert venues into using Ticketmaster. Those terms—designed to preserve competition and prevent Live Nation from unfairly steering business to the dominant ticket seller—were set to expire this year, but the companies agreed to extend the conditions through 2025.
In a court filing Tuesday in Washington, the Justice Department said it had picked Filip after consulting the two companies and the state attorneys general involved in the 2010 settlement clearing their merger. Filip's appointment was approved by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia late Tuesday.
Filip served as a federal judge in Chicago from 2004 to 2008, when he stepped off the bench to become the second-ranking U.S. Justice Department official. After serving briefly as acting attorney general in the early days of the Obama administration, he joined Kirkland & Ellis, where he leads the firm's white-collar defense practice.
Filip was not immediately reached for comment Tuesday.
The Justice Department antitrust division touted Filip on Tuesday as an "experienced monitor," pointing to his 2017 appointment to oversee Pacific Gas and Electric in connection with the company's conviction on criminal charges stemming from a natural-gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people. Last year, Filip raised questions about the adequacy of PG&E's efforts to trim trees to reduce the risk of them hitting nearby power lines and sparking wildfires.
Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALMThe Justice Department also heaped praise on Kirkland & Ellis, the former firm of U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and assistant attorney general Brian Benczkowski, head of the criminal division.The antitrust division is led by Makan Delrahim, a former partner at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
Kirkland & Ellis, the Justice Department said Tuesday, was "well-qualified" to support Filip. The firm, DOJ said, has "supported and worked with monitors and independent consultants in various capacities, including multiple monitor situations involving the Department of Justice and other regulators and institutions, including at state and international levels."
Still, the Justice Department also identified a potential snag, even as it took the position that neither Filip nor his firm has a disqualifying conflict of interest. After a review to uncover possible conflicts, the Justice Department said, Filip disclosed that Kirkland & Ellis represents Oak View Group LLC, a firm that is working with Live Nation to build stadiums in Austin, Texas, and Milan.
"Judge Filip has not participated in this representation, and he has assured the United States that he and any personnel at Kirkland & Ellis working on the monitoring trustee team would have not worked with Oak View Group LLC previously and would be walled off from any matters involving Oak View Group LLC during the monitorship and after it concludes," the Justice Department said. "As a result, the United States does not believe that Kirkland & Ellis's representation of Oak View Group LLC should disqualify Judge Filip and his firm from the monitorship."
Attached to the department's filing was a printout of Filip's biography from the Kirkland & Ellis website.
Read more:
How a 'Never Trump' Covington Partner Won, Then Lost, Lucrative ZTE Monitorship
Justice Dept. Names Orrick's Alexander Okuliar to Key Antitrust Litigation Post
DOJ's New Compliance Monitor Guidance Accounts for 'Burdens' on Companies
Ex-Kirkland & Ellis Lawyers, Now at White House, Receive Ethics Waivers
So You Want to be the Herbalife Compliance Monitor? Join the Crowd
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