Chris Wheeler

Partner @Farella Braun + Martel LLP

San Francisco, CA, US

The editor-in-chief of the leading California antitrust treatise, California Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law, Chris represents both defendants and plaintiffs in class and competitor cases. He currently is representing defendants, including two Fortune 50 companies, in multiple antitrust class actions in federal court. In the landmark antitrust class action against Sutter Health, the dominant hospital system in Northern California, Chris led the Farella team that, along with the California Attorney General and co-counsel, obtained a settlement and historic injunctive relief on behalf of a certified class of California employers, government entities, and union trusts. The settlement represents the largest all-cash settlement in the history of California state court. State attorneys general across the nation have recognized Chris’s antitrust expertise, retaining him in connection with both merger and conduct cases. The Rhode Island Attorney General retained Chris to lead the antitrust investigation of the $4 billion merger between the two largest health systems in Rhode Island. Following the Attorney General’s administrative decision denying the merger, the transacting parties abandoned the proposed transaction.Named a “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” by the Daily Journal, Chris has demonstrated his commitment to obtaining the best possible results He successfully defended a leading Silicon Valley fintech company in a patent license arbitration against a competitor—backed by one of the world’s largest private equity firms—that was seeking tens of millions of dollars in unpaid royalties. Following three years of litigation and an evidentiary hearing lasting 25 days, the arbitrator sanctioned the competitor for more than it recovered in unpaid royalties. In a recent nine-figure LLC dispute Chris handled, the cross-defendant settled for less than 0.8% of claimed damages days before trial.

Harvard Law School

J.D.

Williams College

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Economics