Antitrust Matters

Our practice currently encompasses matters involving mergers and structural issues, criminal grand jury proceedings, international antitrust enforcement, pricing practices, product distribution, joint ventures, class actions based on federal statutes and state unfair competition laws, among many other areas. We represent clients in a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, aerospace, energy, technology, publishing, distribution, courier and food services.

  • Government Merger and Civil Conduct Investigations
  • Private Civil Antitrust Litigation
  • California Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law
  • Criminal Antitrust Litigation
  • International
  • Intellectual Property
  • Healthcare
  • Antitrust Counseling
  • Consumer Protection
  • Risk Arbitrage

Representative Matters

Horizontal Restraint Cases

  • In re Wholesale Electricity Antitrust Cases: class action alleging price fixing and other anti-competitive conduct
  • In re Methionine Antitrust Litigation: class actions alleging price fixing under federal and state antitrust laws
  • In re Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) Antitrust Litigation: federal and state civil actions alleging price fixing in the memory chip market, as well as in related grand jury proceedings
  • Bristol Hotels v. NCII, et al.: actions alleging conspiracy among national commercial insurers to fix prices by passing on residual market loads on workers' compensation policies
  • Tanabe Seiyaku: vitamin class actions alleging price fixing
  • In re Cosmetics Antitrust Litigation: (national retailers) in coordinated state court litigation claiming price fixing of women's cosmetics
  • McAllister v. Inland Health Plan: class action by doctors alleging price fixing by an HMO
  • Eagle v. Van Camp Seafoods, Inc.: class action by fishermen alleging price fixing by tuna canners
  • United State v. Builder's Fence: criminal price fixing case by the government

Monopolization/Merger Cases

  • In re Taxol Antitrust Litigation: monopolization case involving generic competition for anti-cancer drugs and the operation of the Hatch Waxman Act
  • Reilly v. The Hearst Corporation: government antitrust review of a newspaper merger, as well as the subsequent action by a private party challenging the merger
  • Tate v. ENRG Corporation: monopolization action in the liquefied and compressed natural gas market
  • San Jose SaberCats v. Arena Football League: monopolization action challenging league rules as unreasonable restraints
  • Pan Asia Venture Capital v. The Hearst Corporation: below cost newspaper advertising case
  • Scripto-Tokai v. Gillette: monopolization/patent case involving erasable ink pens
  • McDonnell Douglas v. Northrop: monopolization action involving teaming agreements between defense contractors
  • Nestle Food v. Bristol Myers: monopolization case involving infant formula advertising
  • Pacific Supply Cooperative v. Mobil Oil Co.: oil industry dealer termination case with monopolization claims

Boycott/Typing/Vertical Restraint/Unfair Competition Claims

  • SureSafe v. McGrath, et al.: boycott case under the Cartwright Act that resulted in a Court of Appeals decision giving rule of reason, rather than per se, instructions on the question of injury to competition
  • Vacanti v. State Compensation Insurance Fund: action alleging conspiracy to drive medical providers out of business by refusing to pay bills for the treatment of workers
  • Schwartz v. MasterCard: represented MasterCard in a five month trial challenging foreign currency conversion practices
  • Hindju v. ARCO: obtained a unanimous jury verdict for ARCO on claims alleging violations of the Cartwright Act
  • Andrews v. Farmers Insurance: conspiracy claims by policyholders under the Cartwright Act
  • Crown Homes v. L.C. Homes: tying claims under the Cartwright Act, establishes arbitrability of antitrust claims under state law
  • Orion Tire v. General Tire: conspiracy claims regarding the sale and pricing of Slovian Tires
  • Evaluations v. Manufacturer's Life: boycott of brokers in a structured settlement annuity market
  • Vinson v. Farmers' Insurance: class action by insurance agents alleging tying under the Sherman and Clayton Acts

Price Discrimination Issues

  • Crain v. Continental Casualty Company: alleged conspiracy among insurers and brokers to charge discriminatory rates for surety bonds and policies
  • Taylor Made v. Jeff Buffoni: price discrimination lawsuit
  • California Tire Company v. Continental General Tire: price discrimination claims in the tire industry
  • Continental Toy v. Mattel, Inc.: price discrimination claims in the children's toy industry
  • Harris v. Duty Free Shoppers, Ltd.: commercial bribery claim under the Robinson-Patman Act
  • California Egg Marketing Assn v. Rose Acre Farms: below cost, predatory pricing case under the Cartwright Act
  • Frontier Enterprises v. Amador Stage Lines, Inc.: sham litigation case against rival bus companies
  • Rauser Distributing Co. v. G. Heileman Brewing Co.: below cost beer distribution case

Government Cases and Investigations

  • In re Wholesale Electricity Antitrust Litigation: investigations by the Attorney General, state Senate, FERC and grand jury
  • In re Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) Antitrust Litigation: federal and state civil actions alleging price fixing in the memory chip market and in related grand jury proceedings
  • Hearst Corporation: filings and an investigation regarding a newspaper merger
  • Taxol Investigation: FTC investigation regarding the marketing of anti-cancer drugs
  • FTC v. Toys "R" Us: represented Mattel in this FTC investigation
  • Taylor Made Golf Co.: investigation of pricing and distribution practices by the California Attorney General
  • Continental Baking: merger notification involving the proposed sale to a competitor and subsequent negotiations with government
  • United State v. CBS Inc.: merger case involving the market for paperback books
  • Cineplex Odeon Corp.: merger investigation regarding the acquisition of movie theater chains
  • In re Manufactured Feed Grand Jury Investigation: price fixing in the animal and poultry feed markets
  • Roscoe Moss: penalty proceeding under the Premerger Notification Act