Daniel D. Birk is a Partner at Eimer Stahl LLP. Dan defends companies accused of violating the antitrust laws and in other complex civil and criminal litigation and serves as a thought partner to in-house counsel in their most complex and sensitive matters. He excels in crafting innovative theories that reframe the legal and factual questions driving large class actions and that help steer the cases towards early dismissal or an efficient resolution, and he also writes and speaks regularly on antitrust, data privacy, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues. In addition to practicing law, Dan recently spent two years as a visiting assistant professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he taught Administrative Law, Federal Courts, and Legal Writing. Dan has published articles in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, and the Stanford Law Review, among other places, and he is a contributor to the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section. Before attending law school, Dan taught English at high schools in Brooklyn, New York and Vienna, Austria.

Experience

Case Experience

  • In re Auto Body Shop Antitrust Litigation (M.D. Fla. MDL No. 2557): representation of an insurance company in multidistrict antitrust litigation; Obtained dismissal of Sherman Act allegations for failure to state a claim.
  • In re Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. Cheese Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Ill. MDL No. 2031): representation of a multinational dairy company in a multidistrict class action alleging an antitrust and commodity manipulation conspiracy; the district court granted summary judgment on the merits of all claims. The court of appeals affirmed.
  • United States v. CITGO Petroleum Corporation (5th Cir. No. 14-40128): representation of CITGO Petroleum Corporation in its appeal of a Clean Air Act prosecution; court of appeals reversed and directed the district court to enter a judgment of acquittal.
  • Edwards v. National Milk Producers Federation (N.D. Cal. No. 11-cv-04766); First Impressions v. National Milk Producers Federation (S.D. Ill. No. 13-cv-00454): representation of Land O’Lakes, Inc. in federal and state law antitrust class actions alleging that dairy farmers and cooperatives engaged in a conspiracy to limit the supply of milk.
  • In re Steel Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Ill. No. 08-cv-05214): representation of a multinational steel company in federal and state law antitrust class actions alleging that steel manufacturers engaged in a conspiracy to reduce steel production. Obtained dismissal of indirect purchaser claims for lack of antitrust standing.

Recognitions

Honors & Recognitions

Named an Illinois Super Lawyer in Antitrust Litigation in 2024

News

Speaking Engagements

  • U.S. Antitrust Merger Enforcement: Current Trends in Market Definition
    Seoul, South Korea, April 24, 2017
  • Internal Investigations: Midwest Corporate Counsel & Compliance Forum
    Chicago, IL, November 15, 2016
  • Impacts on eDiscovery in US Litigation
    McDonald's Corp. Headquarters, June 29, 2016
  • Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference
    University of San Diego Law School, February 20, 2015
  • Predictive Coding for the Rest of Us
    January 14, 2014

Publications

J.D., Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, 2010

  • Magna cum laude
  • Order of the Coif
  • Awarded the Raoul Berger Prize for Outstanding Senior Research
  • Managing Colloquy Editor of the Northwestern University Law Review

University of Notre Dame, 2003 

  • Summa cum laude
  • Phi Beta Kappa

  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Kenneth F. Ripple of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

  • Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
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