Sandeep Vaheesan is the legal director at the Open Markets Institute. He leads their legal research and advocacy, including the amicus program. He has written and spoken widely on antimonopoly law and policy and building a fair economy. Previously, he worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and American Antitrust Institute.

In his scholarship, advocacy work, and popular commentary, he has focused on, among other topics, the latent statutory powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He has described how the FTC can strengthen antitrust rules governing corporations and prohibit a range of unfair competitive practices, such as non-compete clauses for workers. In a 2021 executive order, President Biden called for FTC regulatory action to restrict employers’ use of non-competes. In January 2023, the FTC proposed a complete ban on non-compete clauses.

Vaheesan is currently writing a book entitled Democracy in Power: A History of Electrification in the United States, under contract with the University of Chicago Press, on the history and future of cooperative and public power in the United States. It will be published in December 2024.