2024 Recipients
Samir Gandhi
Samir Gandhi of the Axiom5 Law Chambers is nominated for this award based on his truly extraordinary effort as Vice-Chair of the International Comments and Policy Committee. Recently, the Competition Commission of India adapted its rules and practices due to significant changes in its organic statute. In rapid-fire succession, CCI sought comments on proposed actions in several major areas. Samir promptly brought each to the Committee's attention, assembled and managed an expert drafting group, produced first-class comments in each area, and shepherded each through Section and ABA review and approval under especially tight deadlines. The consistency and frequency of Samir’s high-quality work, and the magnitude of these dedicated efforts especially in view of the compressed schedules, is truly worthy of special recognition.
Goldie Walker
Goldie Walker of the FTC is nominated for this award based on her years of tireless work to advance the Section's goals, and in particular in her current role as Co-Chair of the Leadership Development Committee. Goldie is the epitome of a leader -- there is no individual she overlooks, no project that she gives less weight, no detail that she skips over. Goldie facilitated the start of incoming Section Chair Steve Cernak’s “Building Better Leaders” program; championed and organized a new series of programs for our YLR/YER members; and supervised and supported countless panels, speaking engagements, and Section initiatives both inside and outside of the Leadership Development Committee. She has identified numerous speakers for our Leadership Summits and Midwinter conferences, actively works to increase membership participation through multiple Section events, and has ensured that the Section’s “Membership Spotlight” publications have not only continued but flourished. Goldie’s commitment to the work and leadership of our Section and its activities continues to be truly outstanding.
Ian Simmons
Ian Simmons of O’Melveny & Myers LLP is nominated for this award based on his outstanding recent contributions to Antitrust Magazine. Although Ian Simmons is a longtime member of the editorial board, in the past year, he has made numerous significant contributions to the magazine deserving of special recognition. For the forthcoming issue, Ian secured an article on DOJ's recent track record, and he led a separate team writing another article on trying two-sided platform cases. In the summer issue, he organized and moderated a symposium on trying monopolization cases. In the past spring issue, Ian moderated a panel discussion on women in antitrust (which he had also helped organize). Ian has been a very active and enthusiastic contributor in Editorial Board meetings, and his willingness to spearhead and execute consecutive successful Magazine projects should be commended.
Christina Ma
Christina Ma was nominated for her continued dedication to the Our Curious Amalgam podcast since its inception. During her time with OCA, she produced and co-hosted numerous episodes, mentored other committee members, showcased fresh voices, promoted diversity among hosts and guests, and worked effectively with Section staff and leadership to boost OCA's quality and visibility within and outside the Section. As a testament to her work, under her leadership, OCA went from being funded year-to-year by Section reserves to a permanently funded content platform for expanding the reach of the Section to listeners around the world. OCA has grown significantly, thanks to Christina's leadership. Podcast analytics show that to date, listeners from 97 countries have streamed or downloaded episodes published by OCA over 250,000 times. Where individual episodes once averaged 200-300 streams/downloads within the first 30 days after publication, they now average well over 600--and sometimes over 800--in the same timeframe. These results are the fruit of Christina's continuing dedication to OCA and the podcast committee since its founding days.
Jane Antonio
Jane Antonio of Baker Botts was nominated for her outstanding work to advance young leaders in the International Policy and Comments Committee. She accomplished this through a series of efforts. On her own initiative, Jane held monthly meetings with the committee's YLRs and worked with them individually to ensure that they were substantively engaged in the committee's key projects. Separately, she helped to develop and support initiatives to promote an active role for our young leaders in the committee's webinar programs. In addition, she supported these young leaders to take on management of major committee reports, such as our retrospective report, and allowed them to thrive in doing so. While Jane's work for the committee consistently far exceeds the normal responsibilities of a committee vice-chair, through these efforts, she added extraordinary value to the Section and has ensured that these young leaders will be part of the Section's firmament for many years to come.
Trisha Grant
Trisha Grant of the FTC was nominated as Vice Chair of the Privacy and Information Security Committee, a role in which she conceived of and then organized, moderated, and marketed a series on AI and privacy which drew high numbers of attendees. Her promotional efforts included publishing articles in advance of the program and pushing to make sure attendance was high. She has also been an outstanding mento to young lawyers in the section through the series, promoted diverse panelists, and has been a "rockstar networker" responsible for reaching out to other parts of the Section and the broader ABA to cosponsor programs. She has taken on more responsibility by signing on to the Taskforce on AI within the Section of Intellectual Property Law. She is the "best of the best." Nominated by Erika Douglas.
Andrew Heimert
Andrew Heimert of the FTC was nominated as Programs Committee Chair by the Meetings staff team, who wanted to recognize him for his excellent collaboration skills, high standards for programs, willingness to work hard, and effectiveness. "His forward thinking has empowered both staff and members alike to seek out creative solutions (within policy & procedures) to navigate through these unique times. His positive outlook and fun demeanor have been inspirational to the current Meetings Team (plus former team members Alex and Max). He sweats the small stuff and that helps the Section achieve the goal of producing top notch programming globally with diverse perspectives (another Section goal) with diverse experts (and another Section goal) on our panels." I really like recognizing someone that the staff view as a good citizen and good partner.
Melissa Maxman
Melissa Maxman of Cohen Gresser was nominated by Julian Perlman of Baker Botts, based on her "effort to bring new members into the Section and promote new voices into leadership. She has singlehandedly introduced so many members and leaders to one of the most rewarding professional experiences of their career. Melissa has been critical to the future of the Section and to the growth of countless attorneys." Julian says of being brought along by Melissa: "Melissa was clear that I would get out of my experience in the section exactly what I put into it - and that has been entirely true. Under her guidance I have progressed to leadership, and it has been every bit the fulfilling experience I had hoped, and she had promised. Without that experience, I don't think I would fully appreciate the civility and intellect of the antitrust bar. I have made lifelong friends in the section not to mention trusted business relationships. And I'm just one person - I know for a fact that Melissa has mentored numerous others in the same way. Her focus on bringing new under-represented voices to leadership is truly remarkable. Somehow, on top of her efforts on behalf of the ABA, Melissa has also been a mentor outside of the section for more lawyers I can count - and is presumably responsible for as many of them sticking with the practice as joining the section. Someday, 20 years from now, the leadership of this section will still reveal Melissa's imprint and mentorship - she has done more than anyone I know for the future of the section."