Antitrust
Our team has represented clients in numerous major antitrust litigations as both plaintiffs and defendants, including class-action defense. We have also provided advice to clients on antitrust considerations, typically in litigation settlements that involve complex antitrust questions. Our antitrust work has covered a wide range of industries, including computer hardware and software, payment systems, pharmaceuticals, video games and wireless communications. We are active in the antitrust bar, including past service on the Executive Committee of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the California Bar and authorship of numerous publications on antitrust.
Our knowledge and experience in copyright and patent law provides us with particular insight for cases that arise at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual-property law. We have counseled clients on “reverse-payment” and “product-switching” issues in pharmaceuticals, including participation in a rare civil antitrust jury trial in a pharmaceutical case. We have also counseled clients on issues involving standardized technologies and FRAND obligations, and we have defended a major antitrust litigation involving alleged FRAND obligation breaches.
Antitrust cases in particular can involve a lot of discovery “churn,” with extensive written discovery and document production that has little or no effect on the ultimate case outcome. We apply the same philosophy to antitrust work as to other cases: Our lawyers apply a hands-on focus to the key issues, while looking for cost-efficient ways to dispose of routine tasks under careful supervision from our experienced team.