Business Litigation

Antitrust Litigation

How We Help Clients With Antitrust Problems
Our Antitrust lawyers represent clients in both civil and criminal litigation, agency investigations, administrative actions, and related matters. We have defended clients in investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, civil and criminal investigations by the Department of Justice, state investigations and proceedings, and private litigation involving issues of monopolization, price discrimination and restraint of trade. We have helped clients with Hart-Scott-Rodino filings in connection with mergers and acquisitions. We also counseled clients on antitrust matters involving Sherman Act, Clayton Act and Robinson Patman Act issues as well as a broad range of distribution questions involving franchising, pricing, refusals to deal, terminations, etc.

We have helped clients in the health care industry with issues such as mergers, strategic alliances and other arrangements among competitors in the health care field. As part of our counseling services, we have developed a Web-based antitrust compliance program which includes an antitrust compliance policy manual, model forms, compliance presentation programs, training, tests, certifications, etc. This comprehensive program is available in hard copy, as well as on disk and CD in an interactive format that allows clients of all sizes to distribute the program and required training directly to individual employees or by means of an intranet system.

Who We Are
The Antitrust Practice Area includes lawyers who have worked for government antitrust agencies, have appeared before the agencies, and have a great deal of litigation experience.

Recent Success Stories

• In February 2002, we developed and implemented a Web-based antitrust compliance training program for a major client in the health care field. The program allows employees at regional sites across the country to complete their compliance training while sitting at their desks.
  
  
• In January 2002, the Department of Justice (DOJ) granted early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification waiting period for a major transaction involving one of our clients. Remarkably, the DOJ approval came after the Department issued a second request for information, which is usually a signal that the merger will be challenged.
  
  
• On December 15, 2001, the Federal Trade Commission dismissed an industry wide investigation involving one of our clients. The Commission accused our client and several of its competitors of restraining trade and artificially inflating prices to consumers. We were able to persuade the FTC that the rising prices were the result of increased costs, not price fixing.