The California Department of Justice is responsible for protecting and serving the People and interests of California. Among other things, we represent the People of California in civil and criminal matters before trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and Supreme Courts of California and the United States, and serve as legal counsel to state officers, and most state agencies. Highlighting the importance of these functions are developments at the federal and state level in health care, which can or have adversely impacted California.
The Competition Unit of the Healthcare Rights and Access Section conducts all antitrust and other competition-related legal work that impacts the healthcare and pharmaceutical markets and consumers in California. The Competition Unit investigates and enforces California’s antitrust and unfair competition laws as well as federal antitrust laws as they might impact the affordability, accessibility, availability, and quality of healthcare services and pharmaceutical products. Typical matters include investigation and litigation over collusive pay-for-delay agreements between pharmaceutical companies, review of proposed mergers of hospitals, healthcare providers, or drug companies in consolidated markets, antitrust cases against hospital systems using anticompetitive contracts and conduct to inflate pricing, and investigations of unusual market moves or pricing. These matters may also include reviewing and proposing legislation, commenting on regulations and guidelines, and other advocacy work.
The Deputy Attorneys General (DAGs) work often in teams that handle this proactive healthcare work in the Attorney General’s Office, including difficult and complex legal work related to investigations, trials, writs, and appeals on all antitrust and competition-related matters relating to healthcare, which require the highest level of independent judgment. They may also coordinate and facilitate communications with other state Attorney General’s Offices and other federal and state government agencies working on similar issues. DAGs work under the direction of the Supervising Deputy Attorney General, the Senior Assistant Attorney General, the Chief Assistant Attorney General of the Public Rights Division, the Chief Deputy to the Attorney General, and the Attorney General.
One of the positions will focus on reviewing pharmacy mergers (both retail and specialty) under AB 853 (2023), Corporations Code Section 14700 et. seq. as well as handling investigative and litigation matters involving pharmacies and pharmaceutical benefit managers. However, you may be called on to assist the rest of the Competition Unit on other matters as workload on AB 853/pharmacy/pharmaceutical benefit management matters and Office needs may warrant.
This is a hybrid position under current DOJ telework policy, that is subject to modification. The position provides the opportunity to work remotely or in-office most days, but some in-office attendance could be required. Travel and additional in-person attendance may be required for court appearances, meetings, or other occasional operational needs.