Avigail Kifer

Avigail Kifer applies her expertise in industrial organization economics and quantitative marketing to antitrust and competition, merger review, and healthcare matters. Dr. Kifer works with attorneys and experts on all phases of merger review and the litigation process, including deposition and trial. Her industry experience includes internet advertising, retail, technology, transportation, and life sciences. She has experience conducting statistical analysis of proprietary big data.

Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) has named Dr. Kifer a Future Leader among economists in the global competition field. Women@ has recognized her as an “up-and-coming” woman professional in the competition space.

Merger review

Dr. Kifer has consulted on multiple merger investigations, both on behalf of regulatory agencies and merging parties. She has worked on transactions in several industries, notably technology, agriculture, insurance, manufacturing, and telecommunications. Her merger-related casework includes:

• Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines
• Meta/Kustomer
• In the Matter of Ball Corporation and Rexam PLC
• Big Tex Trailers/American Trailer Works
• T-Mobile/Sprint

Dr. Kifer submitted comments on the Draft Merger Guidelines released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in July 2023 and provided feedback to the Multilateral Pharmaceutical Merger Task Force in 2021. She also submitted comments on the DOJ and FTC’s Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines in January 2020.

Antitrust and competition

Dr. Kifer assesses class certification, liability, and damages claims arising in a variety of competition matters. She has addressed issues involving bundling and tying, horizontal price fixing, vertical exclusionary practices, and attempted monopolization. In healthcare, she has analyzed relevant markets and evaluated allegations of market power, competitive effects, and exclusionary conduct.

Dr. Kifer’s experience includes Sidibe et al. v. Sutter Health, a $1.2 billion antitrust class action trial, in which she supported an expert who analyzed market definition and market power issues. In Fresenius Kabi USA LLC v. Par Sterile Products LLC et al., a pharmaceutical antitrust matter, Dr. Kifer worked with two experts who evaluated allegations of market foreclosure.

Technology and big data

Dr. Kifer conducts statistical analyses and simulations on structured data, as well as content analyses of unstructured data. She consults and publishes on issues related to e-commerce, online advertising, and mobile apps. Dr. Kifer has assessed allegations related to self-preferencing, algorithmic collusion, conglomerate effects, and data theories of harm.

Dr. Kifer serves as a vice chair of the Technology Committee in the Section of Antitrust Law of the American Bar Association (ABA). She often speaks and publishes on mergers and competition issues related to tech, big data, and healthcare. In 2022, Dr. Kifer won an Antitrust Writing Award from Concurrences for her coauthored article, “Free Can Make Cents: How to Think About ‘Free’ in Competitive Markets.” She has also served as a guest lecturer in classes at Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School.