Antitrust/Competition

We have decades of experience representing clients in government and private antitrust litigation, often coordinating defenses across jurisdictions and with parallel government investigations. Our cases encompass a wide range of antitrust issues, including market-allocation, price-fixing, output-restrictions, labor markets issues (e.g., no-poach and wage-fixing claims), as well as claims of unfair competition, unfair trade practices, and Lanham Act violations.

We represent both plaintiffs and defendants in private antitrust litigation, handling matters that involve contract-related competition issues, tort-based claims, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the False Claims Act (FCA), securities and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims, sports, and distribution and franchising issues, as well as qui tam litigation. Many of our patent litigations also involve antitrust claims. We have handled a wide range of intellectual property (IP) rights-related antitrust matters, including in the computer, monoclonal antibody, medical device, automotive, pharmaceutical, agribusiness, biotech, consumer electronics, defense, entertainment, and publishing industries.

Given our extensive experience with, and the growing prevalence of, antitrust claims linked to IP law and technology and the increased focus of authorities in the United States and abroad on combatting anticompetitive behavior in the technology sector, we recently launched a multidisciplinary Technology Antitrust Group to serve clients’ needs in this area of convergence.

We offer clients a preeminent global cartel-defense practice that has been recognized by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation US, and Global Competition Review. Our extensive experience with leniency programs in the United States, European Union, and elsewhere has earned us the trust of large multinational corporations, closely held companies, and key executives facing cartel matters. We are handling some of the largest cartel investigations and related private litigation in the world today. We have defended companies involved in international cartel investigations from the inception of enforcers’ push into this arena. We regularly handle major international cartel matters, often involving the threat of significant criminal fines and incarcerations. Many of these cases also involve multi-district litigation and class actions brought by direct-purchaser and indirect-purchaser plaintiffs with billions of dollars in alleged damages, as well as direct-action, opt-out, and state attorney general matters.

Our cartel-defense clients include both corporations and individuals from the United States, Asia, South America, and Europe. We are well versed in dealing with cross-cultural issues and helping non-U.S. clients understand and comply with U.S. legal obligations. As U.S. and other antitrust authorities have continued to increase resources devoted to price-fixing and international cartel investigations—and intergovernmental cooperation has grown in the form of information sharing, coordinated investigations, and even extradition—cartel enforcement has become increasingly globalized. We have extensive experience handling multijurisdictional cartel matters, working closely with a network of local professionals to defend and resolve the most complex and extensive global cartel investigations and associated private actions.

We routinely handle all aspects of the merger-review and antitrust-clearance process, from international filings on multi-billion-dollar mergers to third-party complaints to facilitating the divestitures as needed. We can handle all competition-law aspects of a transaction, including not only the competition issues associated with obtaining regulatory clearances, but also antitrust advice during integration planning and antitrust risk allocation.

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An ounce of antitrust prevention is worth millions in litigation costs. We help clients avoid those costs with counseling to navigate the complex area of antitrust law, proactively identifying and mitigating risks before they escalate into legal issues and planning ahead to pave the way for clearance of their most critical strategic transactions. These areas include IP issues; exclusive-dealing, tying, and monopolization practices; relationships with suppliers; distribution issues, including Robinson-Patman Act compliance and minimum-advertised-price programs; employment issues to minimize the risk of no-poach and wage-fixing liability; relationship issues with competitors, trade associations, and industry groups; the formation and operation of joint ventures; and merger planning.

With antitrust agencies worldwide focusing on compliance programming, our extensive experience enables us to create or update compliance programs specifically tailored to a company’s individual risk profile. We provide customized on-site antitrust training, continuing legal education antitrust seminars, audits, antitrust manuals and guidelines, and computer training materials. We are well equipped to review compliance programming and advise on restructuring to align with the most current guidelines and expectations. By partnering with us, clients can proactively address antitrust risks, foster a culture of compliance, and safeguard their business interests in an ever-evolving legal landscape.

Aggressive enforcement of competition law has led to a surge in investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, state attorneys general, and numerous other government agencies into a broad range of practices, including conduct related to cartels and mergers and acquisitions, as well as employment, standard-setting, patent settlements, marketing and distribution practices, joint ventures, and alliances.

We have significant experience with every aspect of government investigations, helping clients across sectors safely navigate the challenges arising from these inquiries.

We have deep experience advising both private and governmental entities on European state-aid clearances, analyzing state-aid aspects of proposed projects, and responding to alleged breaches of state-aid rules. We are routinely involved in leading cases at both the European and national levels. We represent clients before the European Commission and the European community and national courts as to the provision and recovery of state aid.

We provide competition and regulatory counseling for all corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. We regularly obtain EU Merger Regulation clearances and coordinate multijurisdictional notifications. Through our global offices and strong relationships with trusted local counsel, we provide clients with seamless, integrated service. We advise on feasibility assessments and merger-control arbitrage for interested third parties on likely merger-control outcomes.

We also have deep experience advising multinational companies on merger reviews, government investigations, and litigation in Asian jurisdictions, including China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Our team of Asia and U.S. lawyers is actively involved in leading merger and cartel cases and investigations. While many of these cases parallel related actions in the United States, EU, and elsewhere, we excel at collaborating effectively across jurisdictions to ensure an efficient and consistent global approach. In China, we work closely with lawyers from the firm’s strategic alliance partner, YuandaWinston, which provides comprehensive legal services covering the full range of PRC competition matters, including merger filings and investigations, IP abuse/SEP, and private antitrust litigation to competition strategies and compliance under China’s anti-monopoly law.