Antitrust and trade-practices law has had a major impact on the U.S. economy as well as on how firms approach their business relationships. Gone are the days when only businesses in heavily concentrated industries had to be concerned about antitrust and other trade practices issues. Today, increased enforcement efforts at both the federal and state level require many different types of businesses in many different industries to consider how a wide array of conduct will affect competition and how such conduct may be judged under the antitrust laws.
Our attorneys have broad experience with both federal and state antitrust laws, including the unique issues that private equity funds face when acquiring portfolio companies or investing in club deals. When antitrust issues lead to litigation, our antitrust lawyers marshal the firm’s resources offensively and defensively in regulatory litigation and before the federal and state courts throughout the country. We also counsel clients in structuring deals to avoid antitrust issues as well as with respect to a wide variety of other business practices.
Our antitrust and trade practices experience includes handling merger reviews and responding to antitrust investigations undertaken by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, as well as various state attorneys general. We have also litigated antitrust cases in both federal and state court involving a diverse mix of issues affecting a broad variety of industries. Those cases have included private suits—both as plaintiff and defense counsel—as well as defending the firm’s clients in both civil cases and criminal investigations brought by the federal and state antitrust enforcement agencies.
Perhaps the most important service that our lawyers provide is antitrust and trade practices counseling in order to avoid problems before they arise. Here our clients benefit from our multidisciplinary approach, in which we draw upon lawyers from each of our practice areas to provide effective guidance and advice. Our antitrust lawyers work closely with our corporate attorneys to structure mergers and acquisitions in such a way as to minimize any potential anticompetitive effects and thereby decrease the likelihood of having the deal challenged by the antitrust authorities. Lawyers from our different practice groups also collaborate to evaluate proposed business practices that might be subjected to antitrust scrutiny and, where necessary, work with our clients to modify them before they are put in place.
Our lawyers also provide guidance at the intersection of intellectual property and antitrust law. Antitrust enforcers are focusing increasing resources on evaluating the manner in which patents, copyrights and trademarks are licensed and how intellectual property disputes are litigated and resolved.