"Spectacular on every level. Knowledgeable, tough, and hardworking."
The Legal 500 US 2024
"Aaron Chiu offers superb intellect, legal analysis, and people skills."
The Legal 500 US 2023
"Incredible recall of case materials, depositions, and legal briefs. His research work has been exceptional, providing us with case references that reflect a depth of understanding of our case, and consistently anticipating our best next moves."
The Legal 500 US 2023
Profile
Aaron Chiu defends sophisticated clients in complex, enterprise-defining antitrust disputes and advises on emergent and antitrust issues.
Aaron leverages experience litigating marquee matters that test antitrust law’s boundaries and his acutely commercial focus to represent market-leading clients in precedent-setting cases involving:
Antitrust risks for digital platforms
Issues at the intersection of sports and antitrust
Sprawling class actions
He advises household names on preserving their ability to innovate while limiting the risk of litigation or investigation. Aaron regularly handles complex cases in sports, entertainment, and technology, defending clients from plaintiffs’ evolving theories.
Aaron maintains an active pro bono practice, regularly handling appeals through the Ninth Circuit’s Pro Bono Program.
As an active member of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section, he serves on its Joint Conduct Committee and on the Editorial Board for its Antitrust Law Developments treatise. Aaron also participates on the Education Subcommittee of the California Lawyers Association’s Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section.
Aaron served as a law clerk to Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Experience
Aaron's experience includes representing:
Technology
A major global technology company in multiple litigations
Apple in a putative class action related to the design and implementation of Apple’s innovative Apple Pay and Apple Wallet features
Meta (formerly Facebook) in a variety of matters
DoorDash in antitrust litigation alleging a conspiracy among food delivery companies to implement most favored nation clauses (MFNs); after convincing plaintiffs’ counsel that DoorDash did not utilize the challenged MFNs, the plaintiffs dropped DoorDash from the amended complaint
Toshiba in a putative class action challenging a standard essential patent pool as anticompetitive and in a related successful international arbitration against Samsung to enforce a contractual covenant not to sue
RPX, a defensive patent risk-management solutions provider, in successfully defending challenges to its business model as comprising a patent buyers’ cartel by securing judgment on the pleadings and defending the judgment on appeal before the Ninth Circuit
HannStar Display in a Ninth Circuit appeal related to price-fixing lawsuits in which opt-out plaintiffs alleged price-fixing in the TFT-LCD panels industry
Entertainment, Sports & Media
The Atlantic Coast Conference in a putative class action antitrust case brought by current and former student-athletes against the NCAA and other collegiate conferences
World Aquatics, the International Federation for aquatic sports, in a pair of antitrust lawsuits by the International Swimming League (ISL) and Olympic swimmers alleging that World Aquatics leveraged its role as governing body to boycott a professional swimming league. Defeated the swimmers’ bid to certify a damages class and obtained summary judgment on all antitrust claims, earning Litigator of the Week Honors from The American Lawyer.
US Soccer in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit by soccer promoter Relevent Sports alleging that US Soccer conspired with FIFA and others to preclude official foreign league soccer matches from being played on US soil and to boycott professional soccer players, clubs, and leagues that seek to play in such matches, for which the team garnered recognition from The American Lawyer and Global Competition Review
A global media conglomerate in a government investigation into bid-rigging in the advertising industry
Additional Industries
American Airlines in a federal trial, successfully defeating claims by a group of private plaintiffs that sought to unwind American Airlines and US Airways’ merger, garnering recognition as an American Lawyer Litigator of the Week runner-up
Ferrellgas Partners in multidistrict litigation alleging that it conspired to reduce propane exchange tank fill levels and thereby fix propane exchange tank prices, in which Latham obtained dismissal of more than half of the consumer class’s remaining state-law claims and subsequently defeated class certification, garnering recognition within The American Lawyer’s Litigator of the Week column
Qualifications
Bar Qualification
California
Education
JD, University of Southern California Gould School of Law, 2012 Order of the Coif
In the leading competition publication’s annual review of the strongest antitrust practices around the globe, the firm dominated in every category, ranking second across all specialties.
Leading French competition publication Concurrences selected three Latham articles from among more than 1,200 academic, business, and soft law pieces submitted globally.
Private plaintiffs and government enforcers are aggressively attempting to revive antitrust theories challenging manufacturers’ policies that impact consumers’ “right to repair.”
Scores summary judgment victory in putative class action against World Aquatics, the international federation recognized as the governing body for Olympic and international aquatic sports.
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