Providing counsel and compliance advice for clients of all sizes.
At Foley Hoag, we work with our clients on a broad range of antitrust, trade, and consumer protection matters. Our clients have benefited from our in-depth legal experience, as well as our proactive counsel and internal investigative skills.
We have litigated some of the region’s leading antitrust and consumer protection cases before judicial and administrative tribunals at both the federal and state levels. We also represent many clients in merger and other federal and state antitrust and trade regulation investigations. Additionally, we provide proactive counsel. For example, we advise our clients on Hart-Scott-Rodino requirements and offer counsel in all areas of antitrust and trade compliance.
As our client, we can help you create compliance programs, and assist in training your in-house law departments, senior executives, and sales and marketing departments on antitrust issues. We will also conduct internal investigations, if you suspect illegal activity.
Antitrust laws affect companies across industries
Contrary to popular opinion, antitrust law is not generally restricted by type of industry or company size. At Foley Hoag, we have provided counseling and compliance advice to companies of various sizes and in many different industries, including:
- Specialty producers in manufacturing and chemical industries
- Pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, biotech companies and other companies competing in the life sciences arena
- Computer and software manufacturers
- Hospitals, physician groups, health plans and healthcare industry associations
- Telecommunications industry participants
- Manufacturers, distributors and retailers in many other industries
- Trade associations and other consortia
- Commercial real estate owners and developers
- Insurance companies and advisors
- Financial institutions
Our goal is to help you avoid difficulties.
Our lawyers focus on proactively helping you make prudent upfront decisions that will help you avoid unnecessary antitrust issues. We will counsel you in all areas of antitrust compliance, including these business issues, which pose antitrust risks:
- Pricing decisions
- Meetings, exchanges of information and relationships with competitors
- Managing customer relationships
- Distribution issues
- Restrictive licensing and other restrictions related to intellectual property
- Intellectual property enforcement efforts, litigation and settlement strategies
- Refusals to deal
- Exclusive dealing and tying restrictions
- Dealer termination issues
- Mergers, networks, joint ventures and strategic alliances
- Standard setting, both public and private
- Contentious litigation among competitors
Representative Experience
Foley Hoag lawyers have extensive experience in all aspects of antitrust work. The following matters provide a sample of the types of cases we handle:
- Represented a national equipment manufacturer in antitrust litigation brought by a distributor challenging its termination and manufacturer’s internet sales restrictions.
- Obtained an immediate dismissal of antitrust and RICO claims filed against a professional service firm drawn into a patent dispute between parties for whom it had allegedly provided patent agent services.
- Represented a mutual-fund trader in a class action claiming antitrust and commodities fraud violations, obtaining a dismissal of all counts.
- Provided antitrust counsel to a leading non-profit regarding the distribution of patented medical treatments to the developing world for humanitarian puproses.
- Represent a brand name pharmaceutical manufacturer in patent and antitrust litigation against a generic drug manufacturer.
- Represent a medical device manufacturer in patent and antitrust litigation against a competing manufacturer, securing one fo the largest verdicts of 2007 after two jury trials.
- Represented one of the defendants in the multi-district vitamin price fixing conspiracy cases, and one of the defendants in the fax paper price fixing cases.
- Represented a major automotive distributor in a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation alleging conspiracy to restrict the importation of goods into the United States.
- Provide antitrust counsel to a major consortium of financial institutions, including advice on obtaining a business review letter concerning certain proposed joint activities.
- Provide Robinson-Patman counseling for a leading manufacturer of adhesives.
- Represented a systems control manufacturer in an FTC merger investigation.
- Provide antitrust counsel to a leading manufacturer of computer-aided design software
- Conduct antitrust reviews of dealer and vendor agreements for a major automobile manufacturer.
- Defended a national specialty retailer in enforcement action initiated by the Massachusetts Attorney General regarding the retailer’s discounting claims and compliance with consumer protection laws.
- Represented a major retail food chain in litigation brought by a competitor, which alleged bidding irregularities and fraud in connection with the rights to develop highway rest areas.
- Represented a shopping mall developer in an antitrust case arising out of contentious zoning litigation among competing developers and obtained a motion to dismiss most of the claims in the first case in New Hampshire state court to apply the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine.
- Successfully represented a specialty paper manufacturer in a federal monopolization claim against a supplier that dramatically raised prices, with less than one day’s notice.
- Represented one of the oil company defendants in the Apex v. DiMauro litigation. The case involved allegations of an antitrust and commodities fraud conspiracy among a number of heating oil companies that had traded contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
