Antitrust litigation is usually complex, often involving multiple parties and actions. Many of these cases are private class actions and State Attorney General parens patriae lawsuits. Many of the attorneys in this practice have substantial experience handling complex commercial litigation and are members of our highly regarded Litigation Practice. Our experience includes:
Obtaining a defense verdict after a two-month trial on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics in a price-fixing action brought against it and the two largest manufacturers of infant formula.
We have also been involved in the multi-district citric acid, fructose corn and thermal fax paper class action lawsuits.
Antitrust Counseling
It is critical that companies establish comprehensive antitrust compliance programs. These programs serve two principal purposes. First, they help firms avoid costly government and private antitrust litigation. Second, in the event a disloyal or unenlightened employee engages in unlawful behavior, having in place an antitrust compliance program may serve to mitigate any criminal penalties imposed upon the company for the actions of the employee.
Our antitrust lawyers have helped clients in a wide range of industries design and implement effective antitrust compliance programs. We also provide our clients with a wide variety of other antitrust counseling services. We routinely conduct antitrust audits, review distribution agreements and licensing agreements, and analyze the antitrust aspects of other business transactions, all with the objective of minimizing antitrust risks to our clients. We also provide our clients with day-to-day antitrust advice.
Telecommunications Antitrust
Following on our successful representation of MCI in MCI v. AT&T, we have successfully handled issues relating to the opening of new markets to competition and alternative approaches to regulation of telephone company monopolies. Our antitrust attorneys, working in close cooperation with members of the Firm's nationally renowned Telecommunications Practice, have represented clients in a broad variety of antitrust matters.
Intellectual Property Antitrust
Our attorneys have significant experience with issues relating to the application of antitrust law to the licensing of intellectual property rights. Working closely with the Firm's outstanding Intellectual Property and Technology Law Practice, we counsel and litigate on issues such as patent misuse, enforcement of intellectual property rights and the acquisition and licensing of intellectual property. In that connection, our attorneys have pursued antitrust counterclaims to infringement cases and defended such claims
Criminal Antitrust
The U.S. Department of Justice has in recent years stepped up its criminal prosecution of companies and individuals suspected of violating the antitrust laws. We have considerable experience representing subjects and targets of federal grand jury investigations. Our antitrust attorneys represented companies and individuals in connection with several recent high-profile Justice Department grand jury investigations, including the government's high-fructose corn syrup and citric acid price-fixing investigations. We also have extensive experience with the Justice Department's Corporate and Individual Leniency Programs, having successfully negotiated amnesty for a number of clients under these programs in the past few years.
Our Firm has substantial experience representing defense contractors, construction firms and other companies that do business with federal, state and local governments. Our attorneys have represented these clients in a number of investigations into various types of alleged bid rigging.
Trade and Professional Associations
Our Firm has long had a national reputation for its sophisticated practice representing trade and professional associations. Because these entities are comprised of competitors, they often receive intense antitrust scrutiny. We work closely with attorneys in our Association Practice on antitrust counseling and litigation matters involving our trade and professional association clients.
For example, we obtained a defense verdict after a two-month trial on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics in a price-fixing action brought against it and the two largest manufacturers of infant formula.
Health Care Antitrust
Antitrust has assumed a more prominent role in the health care industry, due primarily to the increasing significance of managed care. In recent years, the federal antitrust agencies have published enforcement guidelines for the industry that cover areas such as mergers, physician networks and other competitor collaborations. At the same time, the federal government has also been aggressively prosecuting cases against the health care industry. Our Attorneys are well-versed on the health care antitrust guidelines and on the application of the antitrust laws to the health care industry generally.
Working closely with our Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice, our health care lawyers provide a full range of antitrust counseling and litigation services. For example, we successfully represented the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association in an antitrust challenge of its termination of a license of a local plan.
Our attorneys also routinely advise health care providers on antitrust issues, including the antitrust implications of mergers and the establishment of integrated delivery systems such as physician or physician-hospital networks or IPAs.
Mergers and Acquisitions/Pre-Merger Notification
We have the necessary experience to assist clients with large mergers and acquisitions. We have handled substantial transactions from the pre-merger notification through the second request process.
U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Trade Commission Investigations
The federal enforcement agencies have been very active in recent years in the civil, non-merger area. Our antitrust attorneys appear before the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department in connection with civil antitrust investigations on a regular basis. We have also represented clients in responding to Civil Investigative Demands issued by the enforcement agencies.
Energy Antitrust
The energy industry is undergoing a remarkable transformation. State and federal policies have opened to competition segments of the natural gas and electricity sectors that have in the past been the object of pervasive regulation. As a result of this pervasive state and federal regulation, antitrust historically has been relatively unimportant in the energy industry. This certainly is no longer the case. Antitrust immunities such as the state action doctrine may no longer apply in many circumstances as competition supplants regulation in many segments of the energy industry. Several of our antitrust attorneys have many years of experience in this industry. Our antitrust team combines our in-depth knowledge of this industry with our antitrust experience to provide comprehensive service to our energy company and trade association clients.
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