"Van Fleet's Grand Feats: A billion-dollar win? He's got lots of those," is the title of the October 2007 Texas Monthly/Super Lawyers article highlighting Allan's 30 years of litigation, arbitration and antitrust victories, pro bono work, and service to the bar and community. Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business lauded Allan as "an exceptional commercial litigator who enjoys a fantastic reputation in the antitrust sector," ranking him in the top Band 1 of antitrust lawyers in Houston. Allan is recognized nationally and internationally in the Best Lawyers in America, Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers, and The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers. PLC Which Lawyer? recognizes Allan not only as a leading competition lawyer, but also among the top 20 "highly recommended" litigators in Texas. Allan was selected by Super Lawyers magazine in Antitrust Litigation and Business Litigation, among the Top 100 lawyers in Texas (Top 3 in 2006). In 2010-11, Allan was Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law, the largest body of antitrust, competition, and consumer protection professionals in the world, with 8,000 members globally, including lawyers, economists, enforcement officials, jurists, and academics. At the request of the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, he served as a U.S. delegate to the annual conferences of the International Competition Network and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Allan has represented large and small companies and governmental bodies in a variety of industries, including computer hardware and software, internet services, telecommunications, biotechnology, human and veterinary health care, foods and beverages, energy, oilfield equipment and services, pipelines, railroads, airlines, steelmaking, glassmaking, concrete and cement, accounting, financial services, insurance, legal services, collegiate logo merchandise, entertainment, and education. He has tried and arbitrated cases for plaintiffs and defendants across the country and internationally. His antitrust practice includes, in addition to litigation, developing compliance programs; providing advice on transactions; structuring mergers and acquisitions; and representing clients before federal, state, and international enforcement agencies.
Areas of Concentration
· Antitrust and trade regulation
· Litigation
· International dispute resolution
· Intellectual property litigation
· Technology litigation
· Energy and natural resources
Significant Representations
Antitrust and Trade Regulation - Plaintiffs
· Successfully represented India-based Jindal Steel in pursuing and settling antitrust and breach-of-contract claims against U.S. Steel, which agreed to terminate an anticompetitive exclusive sales agency agreement (freeing $180 million of steel plate production annually), forgo over $50 million in past and future commissions, and remove its director from Jindal's board of directors.*
· Obtained judgments and multimillion-dollar settlements for Cyrix, a start-up maker of personal computer microprocessors, in antitrust, tortious interference, and patent litigation against Intel; represented Cyrix in Taiwan government investigation of Intel.*
· Member of a team that represented, on a contingent fee basis, the ETSI Pipeline Project, a joint venture attempting to build a coal slurry pipeline, in a suit brought against various western railroads; wrote and argued successful motion for partial directed verdict on liability, setting up a jury verdict and subsequent judgment of over $1 billion.*
· Successfully represented Pet Rays, Inc. in pursuing and settling antitrust and California Unfair Competition Act Claims against nation's leading provider of veterinary telemedicine services and affiliated software company.
· Successfully represented International Metaphysical Ministries in removing its universities from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's list of unaccredited institutions, based on the First-Amendment right to conduct religious education without state regulation of curriculum.
· Represented Sun Microsystems in connection with U.S. government investigation of Microsoft.*
· Represented a Houston-based computer manufacturer in connection with Texas and U.S. investigations of Microsoft.*
Antitrust and Trade Regulation - Defendants
· Obtained partial dismissal in Florida federal court and successful settlement of multimillion dollar antitrust claims against Canadian provider of travel-related internet software and services.
· Obtained dismissal of $2-billion antitrust and related Telecommunications Act claims filed against a former Baby Bell company by a competing provider of telephone services.*
· Obtained dismissal of resale price maintenance claims against a leading herbal supplements manufacturer brought by a Florida internet retailer with which the manufacturer refused to do business.
· Obtained dismissal of claims of conspiracy to monopolize by predatory pricing, filed against a Mexican cement supplier by an El Paso concrete contractor.
· Successfully defended a Dallas newspaper and its multimedia parent in a jury trial and appeal of $150-million antitrust and tortious interference claims brought by rival Dallas Times Herald.*
· Successfully represented winner of concession to provide Houston airport with food and beverages in suit alleging violations of state competitive bidding and open meetings acts.*
· Prevailed in West Texas jury trial and appeal of antitrust and tortious interference claims leveled against a major oil producer by an oilfield services provider.*
· Successfully defended, before an East Texas state court jury, Montgomery Ward and parent Mobil against charges of fraud and deceptive trade practices brought when Montgomery Ward closed its catalog stores.*
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Governance
· Obtained clearance for $16-billion merger of engineering and energy services companies from antitrust authorities in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and the European Union.*
· Represented Southwest Airlines before U.S. Department of Justice in connection with acquisition of gates and related ground facilities at Chicago's Midway Airport from ATA Holdings as part of a $117 million package to assist ATA out of bankruptcy.*
· Obtained Justice Department approval of $100-million acquisition in offshore construction vessel industry.*
· Obtained Federal Trade Commission clearance for a Mexican glassmaker to acquire, by hostile tender offer, the United States' second-largest producer of glass containers.*
· Obtained arbitration award that $650-million acquisition agreement was improperly terminated by seller of a Mexican railroad; obtained preliminary injunction in Delaware Chancery Court requiring Mexican company to abide by acquisition agreement and contempt order when it failed to do so.*
· Successfully defended electric utility in breach of merger agreement suit, limiting $400-million damages claim to contract termination fees.*
· Obtained judgment for a financial services company, in Delaware Court of Chancery and Supreme Court, for $120 million for breach, by freeze-out merger, of airline stock warrants.*
· Represented London-based food and beverages conglomerate in defending and settling claims that the merger of its predecessors triggered change-of-control clauses terminating tequila supply agreements and trademark licenses.*
Intellectual Property and Technology
· Defended copyright owner of "SAW 'EM OFF" logo against suit by The University of Texas at Austin to enjoin Aggieland Outfitters' use of the parody of UT's longhorn trademark. Through strategic use of Texas and national media, brought sufficient pressure on UT to successfully settle the suit and preserve Aggieland Outfitters' right to use the logo with minor changes that one newspaper mocked as the addition of a "nose job and hair plugs."
· Successfully represented Farouk Systems, Inc. in pursuing and settling trademark infringement claims arising from use of branding confusingly similar to FSI's CHI ® brand of hair care products.
· Obtained take-nothing judgment for Tokyo-based NEC and U.S. subsidiary in Beaumont class action alleging computer component defects; co-defendant settled for over $2 billion.*
· Obtained summary judgment and successful settlement for a major medical college and its law firm on fraud claims arising out of a joint venture to exploit a faculty member's biotechnology patent.*
· Successfully represented Cyrix in defending and settling claims by Texas Instruments over microprocessor technology contracts and in pursuing Cyrix's trade secrets claims against TI.*
· Obtained summary judgment and successful settlement for Justice Records in case challenging ownership of patented CD and DVD technology.*
· Successfully represented a Regional Bell Operating Company in defending and settling legal ethics and trade secrets dispute with AT&T over employment of former in-house lawyer.*
International Litigation and Arbitration
· Won unanimous arbitration award preventing termination of a multibillion-dollar transportation agreement, despite client's admitted breaches.
· Following string of wins in motion practice before Houston federal court, successfully settled claims to terminate trademark license for Mexican client in metallic building design and fabrication industry.
· Successfully represented Kansas City Southern in arbitration of post-acquisition claims against Mexican maritime transportation company Grupo TMM. After the AAA Centre for International Dispute Resolution sustained KCS's challenge to TMM's second party-appointed arbitrator, the parties settled. KCS succeeded in recovering $39 million of a $54 million escrow, under a contractual formula that would have required KCS to prove $80 million in damages. TMM (represented by David Boies) settled TMM's $96 million claims against KCS for $1.2 million.
· Obtained AAA Centre for International Dispute Resolution award that $650-million acquisition agreement was improperly terminated by seller of a Mexican railroad to U.S. railroad company.*
· Successfully enjoined foreclosure and obtained $35-million reduction in claims by London-based steel supplier against Indian-owned steel production companies in Texas litigation and Swedish ICC arbitration proceedings.
· Won arbitration summary judgment for Kansas City Southern Railroad that multiple-well articulated cars are to be counted as a single car under trackage agreement.
· Won reduction in rent Sears pays to Rice University based on challenge to fair market valuation.
Professional Responsibility
· Obtained summary judgment and successful settlement for major law firm against malpractice claims by employee-inventor of the law firm's client.*
· Successfully defended lawyers before Texas Disciplinary Committees.
Pro Bono Publico
· Defended The University of Texas Law School's affirmative action admissions policy in landmark Hopwood case.*
· Represented defendant before U.S. Supreme Court in case challenging prosecution by Puerto Rico's seven-year, judicially appointed interim U.S. Attorney as violating the Appointments Clause of the Constitution and separation of powers doctrine.*
· Successfully represented Mayor Bill White and The City of Houston in protesting the renewal of a liquor license for a bar that had been the site of violent crimes.
· Represented Central American refugees in trials before Immigration Judges, winning political asylum for 6 out of 6 clients. Recounted in ProBAR: Two Weeks that Made a Difference, 54 Texas Bar Journal 380 (1990).*
· Successfully represented Holocaust survivors in obtaining reparations from the German government.
*The above representations were handled by Allan prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Professional & Community Involvement
· Member, ABA Section of Antitrust Law
- 2010-2011 Chair of the world's largest and most productive competition and consumer protection organization; Past Chair-Elect and Vice Chair; Past Committee Officer (responsible for oversight of 27 substantive committees); Past Section Delegate; Past Council Member; Past Chair: Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, Business Torts and Unfair Competition Committee, Continuing Legal Education Committee, and National Institutes Committee; International Task Force liaison to Free Trade Area of the Americas; Editorial Co-Chair, Annual Review Of Antitrust Law Developments (2000)
· Member, American Bar Association
- House of Delegates and Nominating Committee; Long-Range Planning Committee; Section Officers Conference Committee on Governance; Joint Committee on Legal Ethics and Professionalism; Task Force on Homeland Security; Rule of Law Initiative - Latin America and Caribbean Council; Hurricane Relief Task Force; winner of the 2007 ABA Rule of Law Award; Delegate to World Justice Forum (Vienna 2008); Annual Meeting Task Force
· Commissioner, Texas Supreme Court Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families (2009-present)
· Commissioner, Texas Access to Justice Commission (2005-2009)
· Member, United States-Mexico Bar Association (formerly Texas-Mexico Bar Association)
- Past President; Past Chair, Competition Law Committee; principal drafter of The International Lawyer's Creed
· Member, State Bar of Texas
- Board of Directors; Chair, Administration Committee Litigation Subcommittee; Vice-chair, Task Force on Lawyer Mental Health; Director Advisor, Antitrust and Business Litigation Section; Committee on Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Responsibility; Presidential Citation (2008)
- International Law Section: Director Advisor; Past Council Member; Delegation to La Union Nacional de Juristas de Cuba
· Member, Houston Bar Association
- Past Chair, Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section; Chair, Professionalism Day; President's Award 1999
· Sustaining Life Fellow, American, Texas, and Houston Bar Foundations
· Charter Member, Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
· Past Chair, City of Houston Ethics Committee (appointed by Mayor Bob Lanier)
· Director, Texas Appleseed Center
- Past Chair; principal spokesperson for landmark Fair Defense Report on indigent representation in Texas and Fair Defense Act in Texas Legislature; State Bar of Texas Newton Award for outstanding pro bono services by a group of attorneys; spokesperson for SB 1045 to create a State Innocence Commission and SB 163 to prevent execution of persons with mental retardation; winner of Mental Health Association in Texas Ring of Honor; director of advocacy team obtaining seminal Texas legislation requiring transparency in international money transfers, subsequently adopted in federal legislation and regulations; director of efforts to assure federal hurricane relief meets fair housing obligations.
· Director, Appleseed Foundation (Washington, D.C.) (2002-2008)
· U.S. Delegate and Rapporteur, Free Trade Area of the Americas Working Group on Competition Law and Policy
· Advisor and principal drafter of the Unfair Competition Law of Ukraine, Ukraine Antimonopoly Committee
· Member, Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas
· Director, Equal Justice Works
· Member, Board of Visitors, Columbia University School of Law
- Reunion Co-Chair, 1997, 2002, and 2007
· Rice University Annual Fund Class Chair, 1999; Reunion Co-Chair, 2000, 2005, and 2010
· Co-founder and General Counsel, African Angels Children's Fund (Kenya)
Awards & Recognition
· Profiled, "Van Fleet's Grand Feats: A billion-dollar win? He's got lots of them," Texas Super Lawyers magazine, October 2007
· Listed, Best Lawyers in America, 2004-2012
· Selected by Super Lawyers magazine and Texas Super Lawyers magazine, 2004-2011
- Selected as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Texas, 2005-2007, 2009
- Selected as one of the Top 3 Lawyers in Texas, 2006
- Corporate Counsel Edition, 2008-2011
· Listed, Chambers & Partners USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, 2004-2011 editions
· Listed, "Houston's Top Lawyers", H Texas Magazine, 2004-2011
· Listed, International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers and Economists, 1999-2012
· Listed, Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Antitrust and Competition Lawyers, 2000-2012
· Listed, Practical Law Company's Dispute Resolution Handbook as one of 20 "Highly Recommended" Litigation Counsel in Texas, 2004-2011
· Rated, AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5
Noteworthy Experience
· Principal drafter of the Unfair Competition Law of Ukraine, 1994
Clerkship
· Hon. Irving R. Kaufman, Chief Judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Articles, Publications, & Lectures
Articles
· Author, "Antitrust Compliance in the Current Administration - and the Next?", State Bar of Texas Corporate Counsel Section Newsletter, Winter 2012
· Author, "Exoperotise," Antitrust, Vol 25, Summer 2011
· Author, "The Standard Oil Centennial: 100 Years After the Demise (?) of the World's Largest Oil Company and the Birth (?) of the Rule of Reason," Antitrust, Vol. 25, Spring 2011
· Author, "Antitrust and Quantum Physics," Antitrust, Vol. 25, Fall 2010
· Author, "First Look at 2010-2011 From the New Chair of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law," Competition Law360, August 2010
· Author, Foreword, The Antitrust Review of the Americas, 2011 Edition, September 2010
· Contributing Author, "Joining Non-Signatories to an Arbitration Agreement," The In-House Perspective, Vol. 3, No. 3, August 2007, 2008 and 2009
· Contributing Author, "In-House Counsel: Should they be More Privileged in the US than in the EU?," Business Law International, Vol 7 No 1, January 2006
· Author, "Talking to a Lawyer Could Get Risky: Proposed Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines," Executive Legal Advisor, 2004
· Author, "You Can't Argue With Numbers: The Mexican Immigrant Population in Texas is Growing and Untapped Market for Financial Institutions," Alliance of Independent Bankers Quarterly, March 2004
· Author, "New Rules on Disclosing Client Confidential Information: Are the ABA and SEC Turning Litigators into Stool Pigeons?" Litigation News, 2003
· Author, "Ask the Ethics Experts: Contacts With Represented Parties," The Antitrust Source, 2002
· Author, "Consolidation Con Salsa: Mergers and Acquisitions in Mexico," 15 Antitrust 13, 2001
· Author, "Ask the Experts: Legal Ethics in B2B Formation," 14 Antitrust 50, 2000
Books
· Contributing Author, A Q&A Guide to Dispute Resolution in the United States, in Dispute Resolution, 2007 and 2008
· Contributing Author, Competencia Económica in Cómo Hacer Negocios en Texas, 2007
· Contributing Author, Antitrust Law: "Foundations, Pillars, and Global Forces," Inside the Minds: The Art and Science of Antitrust Law - Leading Lawyers on Unfair Competition, Trade Regulations and Litigation, 2003
· Contributing Author, Texas Antitrust in State Antitrust Practice and Statutes, 2d ed. 1999 and 3d ed. 2004
· Contributing Author, Antitrust in Doing Business in Texas: A Guide For Foreign Investors Doing Business in the Lone Star State, 1999 and 2d ed. 2003
· Contributing Author, Litigation and Arbitration in the United States in Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Handbook, 2005
· Contributing Author, Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Immunity in Antitrust Discovery Handbook, 2d ed. 2003
· Contributing Author, Private Remedies in the U.S., E.U., Canada, and Mexico in Global Counsel Competition Law Handbook, 2002
· Contributing Author, Ethical Issues in Commercial Cases in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, 1998 and 2005 Supp.
· Contributing Author, Texas Legal Ethics in The American Legal Ethics Library, 2001
· Co-Editor, 1999 Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments, 2000
· Contributing Author, Preliminary Considerations in Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial - Fifth Circuit, Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company 1996 and Supp. 1998
· Contributing Author, The Competition Laws of NAFTA, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, 1997
Speeches
· Speaker, "Collective Actions, Amnesty, and Disclosure or Will a Whiff of the Skunk Do?", International Bar Association Florence Competition Conference, 2011
· Moderator, "Models of Private Enforcement," Antitrust in the Americas, 2011
· Speaker, "Competition and Consumer Protection Issues in the Web 3.0 World," ABA Section of Antitrust Law 59th Annual Spring Meeting, 2011
· Speaker, "Enforcers Roundtable," ABA Section of Antitrust Law 59th Annual Spring Meeting, 2011
· Moderator, "Pardon the Interruption - Antitrust Style," ABA Section of Antitrust Law Fall Forum, 2010
· Speaker, American Bar Association Antitrust Masters Course, 2010
· Speaker, International Air Transport Association Fuel Forum, 2010
· Speaker, "Antitrust After the Financial Meltdown," 2009
· Panelist, "Market Failures And Market Manipulation: How Will Antitrust/Consumer Protection Laws Answer The Current Economic Crisis," 2009
· Speaker, "Competition Law Issues in International Acquisitions and Joint Ventures," 2009
· Speaker, "Antitrust Tall Tales," 2008
· Moderator, "Antitrust in the New Administration," 2008
· Speaker, "Antitrust Issues in the Hospitality Industry," 2008
· Panelist, Avoiding Antitrust Violations in Competitor Collaborations, 2007
· Panelist, Antitrust Roundtable, Texas Lawyer, 2006
· Speaker, Antitrust Update, ABA Section of Antitrust Law Corporate Counsel Committee, 2006
· Speaker, "Remittance Legislation," Fraude: Protecting Hispanic Consumers, 2005
· Speaker, "Technology and Privacy," 2005
· Speaker, "Competition Between Lawyers and Nonlawyers: Defining 'The Practice of Law,'" 2003
· Speaker, "Ethics Update: What's HOT at the SEC, ABA, and DOJ," 2003
· Speaker, "Protecting Confidential Information in the Electronic Age," 2003
· Speaker, "Mediation of Antitrust Disputes," 2002
· Speaker, "Antitrust Considerations in the International Distribution and Marketing of High-Tech Products," 2001
Miscellaneous
· Contributing Author, "In the Wake of the Storm: The ABA Responds to Hurricane Katrina - A Midyear activity report," ABA Task Force Report on Hurricane Katrina, January 2006
Sustaining Life Fellow: American, Texas, and Houston Bar Foundations.