The Daily Journal has selected Nick Goldberg for its annual list of Top Antitrust Lawyers in California. Goldberg, inspired by his parents’ legal careers—his mother a real estate lawyer and his father a veteran antitrust litigator—has established himself as a formidable attorney in high-stakes antitrust law.
Goldberg helped secure a major win for the PGA Tour in an antitrust battle with LIV Golf and 11 of its players in 2023. LIV Golf sought a temporary restraining order to challenge PGA Tour’s procompetitive regulations, but Goldberg and the Keker team worked relentlessly over four days to produce a compelling opposition brief.
“We were very gratified when, at the TRO hearing, Judge Beth Labson Freeman said that although she had initially thought plaintiffs made an ‘appealing argument,’ our opposition papers ‘identified and pinpointed key weaknesses’ that prevented plaintiffs from prevailing,” Goldberg explained. The team’s effort paid off when the court dismissed all claims by LIV Golf and its golfers and later dismissed the case with prejudice, marking a resounding victory for the PGA Tour.
Goldberg has also taken a lead role in a complex competitor case between CREXi and industry leader CoStar over commercial real estate platforms. Representing CREXi, Goldberg and his team countered CoStar’s copyright infringement lawsuit with antitrust claims of unlawful monopolization and exclusive dealing. Though the court dismissed these claims, Goldberg argued the appeal before the Ninth Circuit in October and is cautiously optimistic he will get the opportunity to prove the claims at trial.
In addition, Goldberg has been involved in legal developments in college athletics. He is closely following the antitrust implications of name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights and conference realignment. He highlighted a case he’s working on for the Pac-12, which is challenging the Mountain West Conference’s poaching penalties as anticompetitive.
“As these cases continue to shake out over the next few years, I expect that we will continue to see significant changes in the structure and operation of college athletics.”
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