Stearns Weaver Miller announced that former Florida Chief Deputy Attorney General Patricia “Trish” Conners has joined the Firm’s Tallahassee office as a Shareholder in the Antitrust, Competition & Consumer Protection group. A nationally-renowned litigator and creative legal strategist, Trish has particular expertise in antitrust and competition policy and enforcement, but her experience also includes exposure to a wide variety of government and regulatory matters. For 36 years, she served in various senior executive positions in the Florida Attorney General’s Office, including as Chief Deputy. In this role, she supervised over 1,100 employees and engaged in a wide array of matters, representing the State of Florida on both sides of the “v”. As Deputy Attorney General for Enforcement, she oversaw the Office’s Antitrust and Complex Enforcement, Civil Rights, Consumer Protection, False Claims and Lemon Law Arbitration Divisions. Trish has extensive experience advising seven Florida Attorneys General on a variety of enforcement, litigation, and policy issues. She also has extensive multistate antitrust and consumer protection enforcement experience and was the first woman appointed by the National Association of Attorneys General to be Chair of the Multistate Antitrust Task Force and served in that role from 2001 to 2005.
“Trish is one of the most preeminent antitrust and competition lawyers in the nation,” said Jay Shapiro, who leads Stearns Weaver Miller’s Antitrust, Competition & Consumer Protection practice. “Her deep relationships throughout the country and extensive knowledge of the inner workings of the Florida Attorney General’s Office and multistate enforcement, in particular, will provide unique and invaluable insight for our clients.”
Trish has been credited with helping obtain billions of dollars in recoveries on behalf of the State of Florida and its citizens. She has led or co-led countless notable multistate and state-federal investigations, lawsuits, and settlement efforts on behalf of Florida, including Florida’s multistate opioids investigation, litigation and distributor settlement, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill litigation, and the $26 billion multistate mortgage servicing settlement negotiations. Her antitrust work includes many successful enforcement actions involving such diverse products and services as pharmaceuticals, financial services, banking, health care products and services, telecommunications, dairy and other food products, and a wide variety of consumer products.
During her tenure, Trish regularly interacted with opposing counsel, private plaintiffs’ counsel, other state attorney generals and counterparts at the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Justice and European agencies. She also spent a significant amount of time developing and mentoring dozens of young lawyers and support staff.
In October 2020, the Florida Attorney General’s Office established the “Trish Conners Award” which will be presented annually “to recognize the [Office of Attorney General] lawyer who exemplifies excellence, professionalism, and demonstrated dedication, to the mission of the Department of Legal Affairs.” Trish’s work has also been recognized by the National Association of Attorneys General and received the Nelson Award from the American Bar Association in 2017. In 2020, she was inducted in the Hall of Fame for Florida Trend’s Legal Elite for Antitrust & Trade Regulation after 10 consecutive years of recognition under the government & non-profit section.
Trish is an active member of various antitrust law organizations including the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section, where she has held numerous leadership roles on tasks forces and committees throughout the past two decades and is a regular program speaker. She is also board certified by the Florida Bar in antitrust and trade regulation and is a long-time member of the Advisory Board for the American Antitrust Institute. In addition, she was recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors for The State Center, a nonprofit organization that helps provide training to state attorney general antitrust and consumer protection enforcement staff.
Contact Patricia “Trish” A. Conners: tconners@stearnsweaver.com | 850-354-7622
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Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson is a full-service law firm with offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Tallahassee, and Coral Gables, Florida. We offer multidisciplinary solutions with a focus on Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights, Corporate & Securities, Government & Administrative, Labor & Employment, Real Estate, Real Estate Finance, Commercial Finance and Loan Restructuring & Workouts, Land Development, Zoning & Environmental, Marital & Family Law and Tax. For more information, visit stearnsweaver.com.
