Chief Of Antitrust Bureau Named

Attorney General Spitzer today announced the appointment of Harry First as Antitrust Bureau Chief. First is a highly regarded professor of law at the New York University School of Law and Counsel to Loeb & Loeb in New York City.

"Harry First has an outstanding international reputation in the field of antitrust law, trade regulation and competition," said Spitzer. "His high level of energy, depth of experience and commitment to the law will immediately elevate the Attorney General’s office to the forefront of progressive antitrust policy."

First’s appointment continues Spitzer’s practice of attracting outstanding non-partisan lawyers to the Attorney General’s office in his quest to transform the agency into the finest public interest law firm in the nation.

Lloyd Constantine, former chairman of the New York State Bar Association Antitrust Section and former Antitrust Bureau Chief for state Attorney General Robert Abrams had high praise for First.

"Professor Harry First is the perfect choice to lead the return of New York’s Antitrust Bureau to the leadership position in American antitrust enforcement which it occupied in the late 1980s and early 1990s," Constantine said. "Attorney General Spitzer could not have selected a finer, wiser or more scrupulous lawyer to fill this key position."

First’s appointment will not change New York’s involvement in the ongoing federal Microsoft trial. He will replace Stephen Houck as bureau chief, but Houck, who has been named senior counsel, will continue to represent New York, as the lead state plaintiff, at the trial in Washington, D.C.

First has taught law at New York University since 1976. During his tenure at NYU, he lectured on antitrust and regulatory alternatives; international and comparative antitrust law; business crime; and antitrust and intellectual property.

First is the author or co-author of numerous articles and books on antitrust themes, including "Revitalizing Antitrust in its Second Century" and "Free Enterprise and Economic Organization."

During the 1983-1984 and 1992-1993 academic years, First was a Fullbright Research Fellow in Tokyo, Japan and was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Tokyo.

Prior to his academic career at NYU, First was an attorney in the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice from 1970-1972.

First earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966 and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1969.

The Antitrust Bureau, with a staff of 20 lawyers and support staff, has broad powers to enforce laws preventing restraint of trade and to promote competition in New York State.