Dennis Stewart joined Gustafson Gluek PLLC as a Member in 2019, bringing with him years of experience in the areas of antitrust and consumer complex litigation. Dennis’ experience spans litigation across a wide variety of industries including carbon fiber, credit card fees, interchange, casino gaming, sports broadcasting, college athletics, rental car fees, electronics components, medical devices, medical services, and defense procurement.
Dennis is an active member of the California bar and practices out of Gustafson Gluek’s San Diego office. Since joining the Firm, Dennis has been involved in several high-profile cases, including In re Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litig. (S.D. Cal.), In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Ill.) and In re: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.).
Dennis was also counsel in O.M v. NWSL in the District of Oregon, a case which successfully challenged the National Women’s Soccer League’s minimum age rule on behalf of soccer star, Olivia Moultrie. Dennis, his colleagues at Gustafson Gluek, and their co-counsel, were recognized by the American Antitrust Institute for their groundbreaking work on the Moultrie and Interchange fee cases. Currently, Dennis is one of the lead counsel asserting antitrust claims against the NCAA on behalf of volunteer coaches, alleging that the Volunteer Coach Rule unlawfully fixed salaries of a class of assistant coaches at NCAA Division I institutions. He previously successfully litigated a salary wage fix class action case through trial and appeal against the NCAA’s former “Resticted Earnings Coach” rule.
Between 1981 and 1985 he worked for a major San Diego law firm and engaged in a general commercial litigation practice. Between 1985 and 1988, Dennis served as a trial attorney with the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. While at the Antitrust Division, Dennis participated in and led grand jury investigations and trials involving alleged criminal violations of the antitrust and related laws. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and received his Juris Doctorate from Hofstra University, where he graduated with distinction and was a member of the Law Review.
Dennis enjoys traveling with his wife (who is also an attorney) when they can find time to get away from their busy work schedules. He speaks Italian and is particularly fond of Italy where his ancestors originated. Dennis recently took a train ride across the country – working along the way but experiencing the old ways of travel. He loves baseball and is not shy about voicing his opinions on the new rule changes. But most importantly, Dennis and his wife love to share their time with their children and grandchildren and he looks forward to more of this in the future.
For more information regarding Dennis and a list of his representative cases, see below.
More About Dennis
-
Hofstra University, J.D. (1981)
-
California State Bar
U.S. District Court for the District of California
-
California Super Lawyer (2012-2018, 2022, 2024) by Super Lawyers
Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice (2023) by American Antitrust Institute
Attorney of the Year (2023) by Minnesota Lawyer
Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice (2022) by American Antitrust Institute
-
Since joining the Firm in 2021, Dennis has brought his vast experience and knowledge to several significant cases for the Firm. Currently, Dennis is one of the primary counsels for plaintiffs in Colon et al. v. NCAA(E.D. Cal.), in which the Firm is representing volunteer coaches, in this large antitrust class action brought against the NCAA alleging that Volunteer Coach Rule unlawfully fixed salaries of so-called Volunteer Coaches at NCAA Division I institutions.
Dennis is also actively involved in the In Re Deere & Company Repair Services Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Ill.), in which the Firm is Co-Lead Counsel for a proposed class of farmers who allege Deere monopolized the market for repair and diagnostic services for its agricultural equipment to inflate the price of these services.
Dennis also recently brought his antitrust experience to the trial team on the In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litig. (N. D. Ill.), in which the Firm was one of four Co-Lead Counsel representing a class of commercial indirect purchasers of chicken who were alleging that chicken suppliers colluded to artificially restrict the supply and raise the price of chicken in the United States. The case settled before trial for over $100 million.
Dennis was also counsel in O.M v. NWSL in the District of Oregon, a case which successfully challenged the National Women’s Soccer League’s minimum age rule on behalf of soccer star, Olivia Moultrie. Dennis, and the rest of the team, were recognized by the American Antitrust Institute for their groundbreaking work on this case.
Dennis served as one of the counsels in the leadership group in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litig. (S.D.N.Y), in which he represented a class of merchants who accepted defendants’ credit cards and alleged that the defendants conspired to fix the price of interchange fees charged to the merchants who accepted those cards. The case ultimately settled for over $6.2 billion.
Other Representative Cases:
In re Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litig. (S.D. Cal.)
In re Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.)
In re Airline Ticket Commission Antitrust Litig. (D. Minn.) (Co-Lead trial counsel)
In re Contact Lens Antitrust Litig. (M.D. Fla.) (Co-Lead trial counsel)
In re Lifescan Consumer Litig. (N.D. Cal.) (Co-Lead trial counsel)
In re Currency Conversion Litig. (S.D.N.Y) (Co-Lead counsel)
Carbon Fiber Antitrust Litig. (C.D. Cal.) (Co-Lead counsel)
Schwartz v. Visa (N.D. Cal.) (Trial counsel)
Knapp v. Ernst & Whinney (9th Cir.) (Trial counsel)
Hall v. NCAA (D. Kan.) (Trial counsel)