Bona Law PC, a global antitrust and competition law firm headquartered in La Jolla, California, announced that Detroit-based veteran antitrust lawyer Steven Cernak joined the firm as a partner on January 2, bringing with him 30 years of experience in global antitrust compliance, merger reviews, consumer protection issues, and antitrust litigation for clients large and small.

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Steven Cernak (Photo: Business Wire)

Steven Cernak (Photo: Business Wire)

Bona Law boasts its ability to offer big-law quality in a small boutique with a team of lawyers who studied at top schools and worked at top international law firms. Cernak’s addition to the team will expand the growing boutique’s ranks to more than a dozen lawyers across four offices—San Diego, Minneapolis, New York, and, now, Detroit. The firm will also open an office in Los Angeles in 2020.

Cernak’s significant experience in advising and guiding clients through merger reviews, developing and implementing global antitrust compliance programs, joint venture participation, pricing and other marketing policies, distribution, and antitrust-related labor issues will improve Bona Law’s ability to provide a full spectrum of antitrust and competition solutions to its clients.

Bona Law CEO Jarod Bona lauded Cernak as an “antitrust superstar whose addition will make every member of our team better and is an important step toward our goal of becoming the best antitrust practice in the country. I look forward to not only working alongside him but also learning from him.”

Before joining Bona Law, Cernak was of counsel at Schiff Hardin in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he worked for seven years counseling clients on a wide variety of competition and consumer protection issues, including compliance programs, joint ventures, pricing strategies, distribution issues, and merger reviews. Before that, he served for more than 20 years as General Motors’ in-house antitrust counsel, an experience that allowed him to tackle some of the toughest antitrust issues and master the art of explaining those issues in a way that everyone at the company—from CEO to factory worker—could understand.

Cernak’s profile as an antitrust authority is well-established. He has published hundreds of articles, blog posts, and commentaries for The Antitrust Lawyer Blog, WoltersKluwer’s AntitrustConnect Blog, Law 360, LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters/West, and other publications. He recently published a second edition of his textbook, Antitrust Simulations (West Academic 2020), and also annually publishes updates to his Antitrust in Distribution and Franchising in the LexisNexis Antitrust Law & Strategies Series. He frequently provides commentary on antitrust developments in both mainstream and social media. He also regularly teaches antitrust courses to law students at his alma mater, the University of Michigan Law School, and students in Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s corporate and finance LLM program. Cernak is also active in the antitrust law community, having held leadership roles at the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section for more than 20 years, currently as its chief marketing officer.

Cernak graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. He also earned his bachelor’s and masters degrees, both in economics, from the University of Michigan. He has been named in Best Lawyers in America and Leading Lawyers.

“Bona Law is uniquely positioned to help clients grow their businesses effectively,” said Cernak. “I’m thrilled to join this talented and growing team of antitrust experts.”

Cernak will serve Bona Law clients globally from the firm’s new Detroit, Michigan office.