My FTC moment is a particular moment that’s come up several times. It’s that moment in a trial where the entire team is in the office, well after hours, working on a variety of tasks—writing findings, preparing motions, drafting briefs, creating demonstratives. Each team member may be working on a different task, but it’s for the same end—to bring a case that will protect the interests of and make life better for America’s consumers. Both the mission of the Commission and the motivation to help our team put together a sterling case makes working those late hours more than worth it in the end. That moment has come up in each of the cases our shop, Mergers II, has brought, whether it be Chicago Bridge & Iron, Libbey, or Polypore. In particular I’ll always look back on one case, CCC/Mitchell, as the quintessential example of a team pulling together. Under the superlative management of Casey Triggs, the CCC team, which included Mike Franchak, Don Gordon, Sean Hughto, Victoria Lippincott, Ben Lorigo, Angelike Mina, Dave Morris, Gail Slater, and Cecelia Waldeck, all gave everything they could to deliver the Commission’s first preliminary injunction of a merger in seven years. Not only can we look back on that accomplishment as a tangible victory on behalf of America’s consumers, we can also remember the experience of a team working together, having each other’s back, and being part of a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.

—Eric Sprague