Antitrust
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Antitrust issues are complex by nature, combining the threat of regulatory scrutiny and potential criminal prosecution with private civil litigation. They can involve multiple governmental agencies in the U.S. and abroad, as well as numerous private parties. Paul, Weiss defuses antitrust threats with a combination of litigation brilliance, the strong business acumen of seasoned commercial litigators, the credibility possessed by, among others, former top U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice regulators, and thought leadership that has shaped antitrust law for decades.
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Jump to: Why Paul, Weiss? | Our Practice | Clients | Industries | Recognitions | Representative Engagements
Why Paul, Weiss?
Clients come to us with their most critical and sensitive antitrust issues because our Antitrust Practice Group offers an unmatched combination of courtroom excellence, government experience, and economic and academic prowess.
We offer creative and insightful antitrust advice from an overall business standpoint. As integral members of Paul, Weiss’s renowned Litigation Department, we employ its full range of experiences and resources on our clients’ behalf. Our clients are major domestic and international corporations that trust our special combination of litigation skill and real-world economic understanding to avoid legal problems and resolve their largest and most challenging antitrust matters.
We offer credibility and familiarity with major regulatory institutions, a crucial asset in any antitrust investigation or transaction approval process. In addition to our trial lawyers and dealmakers, the Paul, Weiss team includes former U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials as well as one of the nation’s leading antitrust law professors.
Our thought leadership on antitrust issues is closely followed. One of our partners, a former chief antitrust enforcer at the FTC, co-developed “Critical Loss Analysis,” which has become a standard analytic tool used by the U.S. federal government in high-profile antitrust cases. Partners in our antitrust practice have played central roles in the development of antitrust jurisprudence for the last three decades in areas ranging from mergers to predatory pricing.
Our Practice
Our Antitrust Practice Group advises clients on developing business and regulatory strategies in their most significant business transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, and the formation of joint ventures.
We regularly counsel private equity clients on deals and transactions, especially in relation to due diligence and merger clearance issues.
Lawyers in the Antitrust Practice Group regularly play leading roles in complex antitrust litigations in state and federal court. These cases often raise novel issues relating to class certification, as well as other substantive areas of law, including common law business torts, copyrights, patents, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. As members of our Litigation Department, the lawyers in the Antitrust Practice Group are seasoned commercial litigators who have the experience and skill needed to handle all facets of these complex litigations.
Lawyers from both our Washington, D.C., and New York offices coordinate as a team to counsel clients on the full range of antitrust matters from the courtroom to the boardroom:
- Private litigation including allegations of price fixing, customer and market allocation, vertical restraints, and monopolization;
- Complex multi-district litigation often involving class actions and subsequent opt-out litigations;
- Antitrust approval of mergers and acquisitions;
- Civil non-merger investigations conducted by the DOJ, FTC, and state attorneys general;
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- Grand jury investigations of cartel activity and criminal trials;
- Appeals of significant antitrust issues in state and federal courts;
- Formation of joint ventures and other collaborations among competitors;
- Advice regarding interlocking directorates; and
- Development of antitrust compliance programs.
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The international reach of our antitrust practice extends to investigations and other matters in Japan and throughout Asia as well as Canada and Europe.
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Our Clients
Our lawyers provide timely, value-added solutions to many of the world’s most prominent companies on a wide variety of antitrust matters. Representations have included work on behalf of:
- Agrium
- American International Group
- Automatic Data Processing
- Becton, Dickinson
- Citigroup
- Delta Airlines
- Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
- Fidelity National
- Hearst Corporation
- Hewitt Associates
- Intelsat
- MasterCard
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- Mitsubishi
- Movado
- News Corporation
- The Nielsen Company
- Pfizer
- Sharp Corporation
- Sumitomo Chemical
- Sumitomo Corporation
- Time Warner
- Time Warner Cable
- Triarc
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Industries
We have represented numerous corporations and individuals in virtually every industry, including:
- Apparel
- Consumer products
- Financial services
- Health care
- Hospitality
- Gaming
- Industrials and manufacturing
- Infrastructure
- Insurance
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- Media and entertainment
- Natural resources
- Pharmaceuticals
- Publishing
- Renewable energy
- Real estate
- Retailing
- Technology
- Telecommunications
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Recognitions
Our Antitrust Group has earned an enviable reputation for its valued work. Recent acknowledgements have included:
- Legal 500 US named several of our antitrust lawyers “Leading Lawyers” in 2009.
- The American Lawyer named Paul, Weiss a “Litigation Department of the Year” finalist in 2010 and winner in 2006.
- Chambers USA 2010 notes that Paul, Weiss’s antitrust group “has a thorough approach and addresses delicate issues with discretion and sensitivity.”
- Legal 500 2010 notes that “as a result of [Paul, Weiss’s] generalist approach, its litigators are able to seamlessly offer expertise on any related substantive area of law that may overlap with an antitrust matter.”
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Representative Engagements
Our practice has played a leading role in several of the world’s largest antitrust cases. Recent representative matters have included:
Agrium in the antitrust aspects of its multibillion-dollar unsolicited bid for CF Industries.
AIG in numerous antitrust matters involving state regulators and private litigation. We achieved a significant victory for the company when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a proposed class action alleging a massive industry-wide market allocation conspiracy encompassing all lines of commercial and employee benefits insurance.
Becton, Dickinson for nearly 30 years in antitrust litigation, including against claims of monopolization, bundled discounting and exclusive dealing with hospitals. We also represented Becton, Dickinson in congressional, FTC and state attorney general investigations of pricing and contracting practices by group purchasing organizations, as reported on 60 Minutes and in The New York Times.
Citigroup in connection with a pair of proposed class actions in which plaintiffs alleged that the company manipulated the market for auction rate securities. Both lawsuits were dismissed.
DVD FLLC in achieving the dismissal, with prejudice, of a complaint by EcoDisc alleging violations of the antitrust laws and false advertising.
Fidelity National in its acquisition of the title insurance subsidiaries of one of its main competitors, LandAmerica Financial Group. The FTC initially cleared the acquisition under the failing firm doctrine, and Fidelity later settled with the FTC.
Giorgi Mushroom Company, a mushroom producer, in class action and individual actions challenging the exemption of an agricultural cooperative under the Capper-Volstead Act.
Hewitt Associates in connection with its $4.5 billion acquisition by Aon Corporation, including a DOJ investigation, where we persuaded the Department to close the investigation without issuing a Second Request and coordination of European Union and Canadian investigations.
Intelsat in its $3.2 billion acquisition of PanAmSat, combining two of the three largest providers of fixed satellite services. The transaction cleared review by the DOJ without any divestitures or the imposition of other conditions.
The Lightstone Group in connection with the disposition of its portfolio company, Prime Outlets Acquisition Company, to Simon Property Group, Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $2.3 billion, which was subject to an FTC investigation.
MasterCard in antitrust litigation against individual claims and class actions brought on behalf of all merchants in the United States that accept MasterCard. The actions allege that the fees merchants pay when consumers use credit and debit cards are set illegally under the antitrust laws. We obtained a significant settlement with the DOJ after a nearly two-year investigation. Additionally, we represented MasterCard in state class actions in California and New Mexico brought on behalf of consumers under state antitrust and unfair competition laws.
News Corporation in the dismissal of antitrust litigation brought against Dow Jones & Company, Inc., a News Corporation business unit.
The Nielsen Company and Other Defendants in a multi-jurisdiction monopolization case alleging that Nielsen had monopolized or attempted to monopolize the U.S. retail tracking market and 30 foreign markets through a combination of exclusionary acts, including predatory pricing, bundled discounts and exclusive retailer contracts.
We recently represented The Nielsen Company (U.S.) LLC in obtaining a victory against federal and state antitrust claims asserted by Sunbeam Television Corp. Sunbeam, which owns local FOX affiliate station WSVN-7 in Miami, sued Nielsen, the leading provider of television “ratings,” claiming that Nielsen's rollout of a new ratings measurement methodology in Miami was the anticompetitive result of Nielsen's alleged monopoly power. The Southern District of Florida granted summary judgment to Nielsen, finding no support in the record for Sunbeam's claims and holding that none of the three excluded rivals Sunbeam identified was willing and able to enter the local ratings market in Miami but for Nielsen's exclusionary practices.
Premium Standard Farms in its acquisition by Smithfield — two of the country’s largest pork producers. The DOJ issued a second request and subsequently cleared the transaction with no conditions.
Sharp Corporation in antitrust litigation and investigations of cartel activity related to liquid crystal display units.
Sumitomo Chemical in settling the state indirect purchaser and parens patriae cases in the vitamins industry.
Time Warner and Time Warner Cable in their successful joint bid with Comcast to acquire assets of Adelphia Communications valued at $17 billion. We assisted with related transactions redeeming Comcast’s 21 percent stake in Time Warner Cable and swapping cable systems serving more than two million customers with Comcast. Following a seven-month investigation, the FTC approved the deal unconditionally.
Upper Deck in connection with its hostile tender offer for rival trading card company Topps. Topps resisted the takeover in part because of antitrust concerns. Although the transaction would have merged the only two sellers of baseball cards, we obtained unconditional clearance from the FTC.
Wieland Werke in connection with a series of cases alleging cartels in plumbing tube and HVAC tube.