Antitrust

Our antitrust lawyers provide national and international clients with preventive counseling, representation in private litigation, and crucial guidance during federal and state government investigations and enforcement actions.

With our help, clients have successfully defended civil actions alleging a broad array of antitrust and trade regulation violations, including price fixing, monopolization, group boycotts, tying arrangements, mergers and joint ventures, price discrimination and violations of state unfair trade practices acts.

Our team collaborates with clients to assess the risks of contemplated mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and assists them through the process of complying with the filing and reporting requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

With decades of substantive experience and the technical skills needed in this arena, we develop and apply a thorough understanding of our clients' businesses to help them create and implement effective antitrust compliance programs.

Our clients in recent antitrust matters include:

• A Finnish paper company and its U.S. subsidiaries in connection with a Department of Justice investigation and multidistrict, class action litigation involving a claimed conspiracy to fix prices of publication paper.
• A medical bill review software provider accused of conspiring with its client casualty insurers to limit medical services and reduce reimbursements.
• A software company accused of engaging in an illegal tying arrangement.
• A manufacturer of medical laboratory instruments faced with a temporary injunction against its efforts to pursue a joint venture.
• A manufacturer of sophisticated scientific instruments, which we helped gain an early termination of the premerger waiting period required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
• A major retail chain facing claims of monopolization in connection with real estate development efforts.
• An industrial company accused of criminal price fixing and faced with related class action litigation.
• A producer of X-ray films accused of price fixing in federal and state class action litigation.
• A U.S. distributor of Japanese photocopying equipment accused by a competitor of exclusive dealing, tying, and monopolization.
• A major computer hardware and software manufacturer accused of engaging in tying, attempted monopolization and monopoly leveraging.
• Realtor multiple listing services (MLS) accused of an illegal tying arrangement by a neighboring board of realtors and of monopolization by other neighboring boards of realtors.
• A chemical company that obtained millions of dollars in settlements from foreign chemical manufacturers which had illegally fixed prices on one of our client's key components.
• The nation's largest outlet mall developer in litigation challenging our client's use of radius restrictions in its leases and its providing financial and technical support to a local citizens' group opposing construction of a competing outlet mall.
• Several energy market participants facing antitrust suits alleging market manipulation and contract actions arising from the failure to deliver and/or pay for energy, including representing parties in the Enron bankruptcy.

• Defense of an antitrust class action alleging a conspiracy among a software solutions company and its insurance company licensees to restrict covered medical services and reduce the reimbursements for those services.

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