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ANTITRUST & TRADE REGULATION

Heightened enforcement of the laws that regulate competition is a challenge requiring sophisticated strategy based on experience. From complex mergers and acquisitions to strategic day-to-day competition counseling, civil and criminal government investigations, and litigation, we are prepared to advocate your position on the full spectrum of competition law.

  • Ongoing antitrust counseling to religious and non-religiously affiliated health systems, physicians practices and medical societies.
  • Negotiated, before it was recognized as a viable concept, a hold-harmless agreement for post-transaction antitrust challenges in an acquisition context that shifted the expense after closing to the acquirer.
  • Counseled trade associations, and their members attending trade association events, to ensure compliance with antitrust laws.
  • Petitioned the Federal Energy Regulation Commission for review changes based on a client’s competitive concerns.
  • Handled civil and criminal antitrust litigation matters, including jury trials and class-actions.
  • Structured transactions to minimize antitrust issues.
  • Provided compliance and distribution counseling to a construction materials company that has multiplied its sales ten-fold in the last five years.
  • Prepared Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and providing antitrust counseling that facilitated the successful closing of the largest cookware company transaction in North America.
  • Administered antitrust compliance programs for national purchasing cooperatives in the home products and publishing industries.
  • Won an appeal resulting in the decertification of a class of Hydrogen Peroxide purchasers and the clarification of class certification standards in a landmark ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a Sherman Act §1 case.
  • Defended a $13 million antitrust case in federal court on behalf of a leading innovator in foot care technology. The case raised claims of false advertising, consumer fraud and violation of Texas and federal antitrust laws.
  • Represented a leading international chemical manufacturing company in defense of civil antitrust class- action cases and a direct-purchaser case filed in federal and state courts alleging price-fixing and customer and market allocation in connection with the sale of plastics additives.
  • Served as national coordinating defense counsel to a retail client in connection with many antitrust and fair dealing claims relating to terminated dealers/distributors.
  • Provided antitrust and structural advice with regard to one of the first attempted business-to-business e-commerce solutions for the highly fragmented metals industry.
  • Resolved FTC and attorney general investigations of the acquisition of petroleum terminals in Pennsylvania, thereby enabling the acquisition to close.
  • Negotiated a consent decree with the Pennsylvania attorney general that permitted the largest health care provider in an economically depressed part of West Central Pennsylvania to acquire a competitor and begin to restore economic vibrancy to the region.
  • Obtained FTC antitrust clearance on an expedited basis for the combination of two large retail sporting goods chains in the U.S.
  • Defended major oil companies in trade regulation cases arising out of federal and state false advertising and consumer fraud statutes, as well as the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act.
  • Represented a British specialty chemical manufacturing company in connection with a DOJ investigation into price-fixing, with regard to the salaries paid to chemical engineers, arising out of participation in trade association activities.
  • Represented an orthopedic surgeon group in an FTC investigation of an alleged physician boycott as well as a civil action against a national physicians union.
  • Handled the antitrust issues associated with licensing, joint technology agreements and IP contracts.
  • Concluded two FTC investigations, one into price-fixing and one into claimed monopolization, for a global specialty generic pharmaceutical company.
  • Defended a Pennsylvania agricultural association against a DOJ antitrust investigation that resulted in a negotiated consent decree with no finding or admission of liability and representing the client in a series of subsequent civil antitrust suits alleging unfair pricing.
  • Ongoing antitrust compliance counseling for a foreign-based, multinational dairy ingredient company.
  • Ongoing antitrust counseling with regard to pricing, distribution and product development for a leading global supplier of tooling, engineered components and advanced materials.
  • Represented FTC-appointed trustee on antitrust and contracting issues in connection with mandated biomedical and pharmaceutical technology transfer as part of a sanctioned merger between pharmaceutical companies.