The Legal 500

Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP’s reputation as a litigation firm is well established and the 20-strong group of lawyers handling class actions has dealt with some of the most significant plaintiff antitrust cases of the last decade to establish an enviable national and international reputation. The defense side of the practice is now probably rather larger than plaintiff representation, although this has no perceptible impact on the quality of advice or the determination of the first class lawyers specializing in antitrust. The lawyers active in class action plaintiff matters are all based in Washington DC, although their services are available throughout the 11 office network. In the summer of 2009, William Isaacson, who has a string of successes in plaintiff representation, and a niche in international cartel work, teamed with Tanya Chutkan, who has achieved several multimillion-dollar plaintiff antitrust successes, to sue the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) as co-lead counsel over its practice of requiring student athletes to surrender their rights to commercial use of their images. In another recent representation, the firm served as co-lead counsel and obtained $33m for the class plaintiffs in an antitrust and patent case defended by Hoffmann-La Roche and Applera Corporation, involving purchases of Taq DNA polymerase, an enzyme used to replicate DNA. Other recent successes include actions on behalf of a class of mortgage holders suing an Ohio-based bank. Also recommended in the Washington DC office are Scott Gant, who appeared as co-counsel in the Hoffman-La Roche litigation mentioned, and Christopher Hayes, who is acting for a putative class of direct purchasers of guaranteed investments in the Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation.

Hausfeld LLP brands as a global plaintiff representation firm, targeted at providing justice to both individuals and businesses, and antitrust litigation is one of five key areas of expertise. Since its inception in late 2008, the firm has been appointed co-lead counsel in over 20 significant cases. The firm is headquartered in Washington DC, and also has offices in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and London. One client ranks the firm as ‘the best I have ever worked with’. Recent successes include two cases in the airline industry, firstly as co-lead counsel in the British Airways/Virgin Atlantic Fuel Surcharge Price-Fixing Cartel Case, which resulted in a $200m settlement for the aggrieved plaintiffs; the precedent-setting case allowed UK citizens equal footing with US citizens in US courts. The firm also acted as co-lead counsel in negotiating and agreeing a $85m court-approved settlement with Lufthansa in an air cargo shipping price-fixing cartel case; the action against other plaintiffs continues. Other significant work included taking a leading part include the “Chinese dry-wall” litigation, and an action on behalf of victims of the South African apartheid regime against multinational corporations which allegedly aided and abetted crimes against humanity. The latter case is proceeding after a successful appeal to the Second Circuit court following the district court’s grant of dismissal to the defendants. Recommended lawyers include the firm’s founder, Washington DC-based Michael Hausfeld, an experienced veteran who is ‘inventive and determined’. Also in Washington DC, Brian Ratner is an ‘engaging, highly competent professional who can simplify complex antitrust matters and make them comprehensible to a non-antitrust attorney’, and Andrew Bullion, ‘experienced, knowledgeable and easy to communicate with’. In Philadelphia, Brent Landau is ‘very professional and personable’.

Susman Godfrey LLP, a nationwide litigation boutique with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Seattle, includes an antitrust practice as one of its main specialisms. Well established and well followed, some 10 lawyers specialize in the practice area. The firm does not confine its expertise to class plaintiff actions, but also represents individual plaintiffs and will defend in antitrust. Clients comment that the retention of the firm sends a signal to the defendant that the matter should be taken seriously. In January 2010, a federal judge re-certified the class action against Comcast, confirming that the plaintiffs had satisfied a new, stricter class action test imposed in 2009 by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal. The firm was again appointed as co-lead counsel, reaffirming an order made in 2007. In another class action launched in 2009, the firm filed on behalf of shareholders against Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, alleging that false and misleading statements were made by responsible directors and officers of the banks before the shareholder ballot on Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Founder Stephen Susman, is known as a courteous and determined opponent, always well-prepared, who has succeeded in many multimillion-dollar actions. Barry Barnett has an established reputation both for his legal skills and his ability to ‘empathize with the underdog’.

Berger & Montague, P.C.’s antitrust offering is just one of a strong set of practices, though an important one, which has attracted judicial comment such as ‘class counsel did a remarkable job in representing the class interests’. In January 2010, lawyers from the firm, acting as co-counsel for cardholder classes, reached settlements, subject to court approval, with four credit card companies in a four-year-old lawsuit alleging unlawful collusion by Chase, Bank of America, Capital One and HSBC, to require cardholders to arbitrate disputes, including debt collections, and preventing cardholders from participating in class actions. Practice group chair Laddie Montague is a senior lawyer who garners considerable respect from clients, and is credited with ‘building a strong team and making sure that it is always performing well’. Eric Cramer specializes in antitrust litigation and has a reputation for ‘understanding how the defendant’s business works’, and Bart Cohen is a very strong litigator who has achieved some notable successes in antitrust actions ranging from ATM machines to dentures. All members of the practice are based in Philadelphia.

Cohen Millstein Sellers & Toll LLP’s 22 partner plaintiff-side litigation boutique practices from offices in Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, and has established a nationwide and international reputation for antitrust representation, in which five partners and several associates specialize. The firm has a long record of success in price-fixing litigation in products ranging from flat glass to blueberries. Recent actions include representation behalf of the class of real estate developers alleging price-fixing by the eight cement producing companies, which dominate the Florida market. The firm has been appointed sole interim class counsel in Carlin v. Dairy America, on behalf of a class of dairy farmers alleging incorrect statistical reporting by the defendants which resulted in the farmers being deprived of millions of dollars in sales income. Members of the firm continue to act on the executive committees of long-running actions, including one against America’s chocolate manufacturers, and as chair of the executive committee in In re Publication Paper Antitrust Litigation, which commenced in 2004. Recommended lawyers in Washington DC, include Daniel Small, who has led litigation against major corporates is such as Microsoft, Intel and General Motors, and Benjamin Brown, who was formerly a trial attorney with the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. The New York office houses two extremely promising associates, Seth Gassman, who has been closely involved in the Intel microprocessor antitrust litigation, and George Farah, who is serving on the executive committee representing a class of direct purchasers alleging price-fixing by publication paper manufacturers.

Heins Mills & Olson, PLC, the Minneapolis-based 15 fee-earner litigation boutique, has carved an excellent reputation for antitrust work and has been commended for responsiveness and a thoroughly professional approach to the cases in which it is instructed. Lawyers from the firm have acted in many leading cases, and in 2009 saw the settlement of the In re Lawnmower Engine Horsepower Marketing and Sales practices litigation, when a group of lawnmower manufacturers and a major supplier agreed a settlement of $65m for the class of customers allegedly misled about specifications of lawnmower engines. Vincent Esades is an experienced veteran of numerous major antitrust class actions and was recently appointed as co-lead counsel in Katz v. Fidelity National Title Insurance Co, and another claim against a title insurer. Esades was also appointed as co-lead counsel in the In re Puerto Rican Cabotage antitrust litigation, which alleges price-fixing by ocean shipping companies. Samuel Heins served as lead trial counsel in the In re Travel Agency Commission antitrust claims on behalf of travel agents against major domestic airlines, and has also litigated cases involving pharmaceuticals, laminates, and vitamins.

Labaton Sucharow LLP’s antitrust practice has been developing strongly over the last few years, and a core of five partners now devote a substantial part of their time to antitrust work, with wide support available in the firm. To date, the firm claims that the antitrust litigation team has recovered more than $1.5bn on behalf of its clients in major antitrust class actions nationwide. The group was strengthened by the recruitment of Jay Himes, the former Antitrust Bureau Chief in the New York Attorney General’s office, as partner and co-chair of the practice group, in late 2008. The firm appeared as co-lead counsel in several of the cases referred to, including In re Puerto Rican Cabotage Antitrust, with Heins Mills & Olson, PLC, and In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust, the Lufthansa matter, with Hausfeld LLP. Hollis Salzman acted as the principal attorney in each of these instructions. Bernard Persky led the work for the firm as co-lead counsel on In re Parcel Tankers Antitrust Litigation; Stolt-Nielsen SA v. Animal Feeds International, a precedent case concerning a mandatory arbitration clause which was silent as to the possibility of a class action, which reached the Supreme Court in the fall of 2009.

Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP is a highly efficient, very modern litigation firm with offices in San Francisco, Minneapolis and Dallas. The firm uses cutting-edge information technology for mining the vast quantities of documentation, which feature in any class action which allows rapid appraisal of potential matters. Members of the firm act for defendants as well as plaintiffs in class actions. The firm has established links with firms in the UK, Europe, China and Canada to more readily handle the increasing number of class action claims with a cross-border aspect. The firm was the court-appointed liaison counsel and chair of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in Montgomery Partners v. Microsoft, an indirect purchaser class action on behalf of an estimated thirteen million California consumers which resulted in a $1.1bn settlement following allegations of monopoly behavior by the software giant. In San Francisco, practice co-chair Craig Corbitt is an experienced litigator with wide experience of cartel litigation, who was appointed as co-lead counsel by the court in the Intel antitrust litigation.