Burton Award Goes to Mark Popofsky

Washington, D.C.-based antitrust partner Mark Popofsky has been awarded a 2012 Burton Award for legal writing. The award is for his co-authored article “The Sherman Act’s Criminal Extraterritorial Reach: Unresolved Questions Raised by United States v. AU Optronics Corp.” originally published in the August 2011 issue of Competition Policy International.
 
In the article, Mark explain that the Antitrust Division’s case against AU Optronics involving the TFT-LCD cartel (which recently resulted in a jury verdict for DOJ) has presented a rare occasion for courts to grapple with unresolved questions respecting the territorial scope of the Sherman Act in a criminal context. Among other things, Mark explains, the case raises whether the government in an international cartel case must charge intent substantially to affect U.S. commerce, whether a judge or jury must decide that issue at trial, and which of several possible jurisdictional tests apply to conduct that is partially foreign and partially domestic.
 
The Burton Awards for Legal Achievement have been given annually since 1999 to “the finest law firm and law school authors.” They are bestowed by the Burton Foundation, founded by William C. Burton, a former New York State Assistant Attorney General, and Assistant Special Prosecutor, as well as the author of the authoritative reference book, Burton’s Legal Thesaurus. Winners are chosen from more than 1,000 entries submitted by law firm managing partners and law school deans.
 
The award will be presented at the 13th annual Burton Awards ceremony at the Library of Congress on June 11, 2012. Justice John Paul Stevens will be a guest speaker and recipient of the 2012 “Book of the Year in Law” Award at this year’s ceremony. Entertainment will be provided by singer and tony-award winning actress Bernadette Peters.