US > Litigation > Mass tort and class action - plaintiff representation: antitrust: National
Mass tort and class action: plaintiff representation: antitrust
Here, firms with expert practices in the full range of anti-competitive behavior and restrictive trade practices are described and recommended. The clients represented are generally small to medium-sized businesses, or consumer groups, seeking to recover financial losses incurred as a result of price-fixing, bid-rigging, cartel formation, customer or market allocation, monopoly abuse, unlawful patent extension or any other variety of anti-competitive conduct.
PRACTICE: Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP’s powerful litigation practice has been instructed in some of the most significant plaintiff antitrust cases in recent years, claiming an enviable national and international reputation. The defense side of the practice is now sizeable and proportionally similar to the plaintiff representation, giving it a broader perspective without compromising quality.
Partners from the practice have been lead trial counsel or co-lead counsel in some of the precedent-setting antitrust cases to pass through the US courts in recent years, including US v Microsoft, US v AT&T, US v IBM and US v ADM and RJR Nabisco (re Vitamins Antitrust Litigation).
In a more recent success, lawyers from the practice served as co-lead counsel for the class plaintiffs in an antitrust and patents case involving purchases of Taq DNA polymerase, an enzyme used to replicate DNA, against defendants Hoffman-La Roche and Applera - a $33m settlement was finally approved in December 2008.
In another case which looks likely to run for some time, a New York district court ruled in November 2008 that a price-fixing antitrust action could proceed against four Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers which had allegedly formed a cartel which had manipulated the price of vitamin C supplied to the US - Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP lawyers are acting for the two of the plaintiffs, Ranis and Animal Science.
INDIVIDUALS: William Isaacson, in Washington DC, is a leader in plaintiff representation with many successes to his credit - a niche in international cartel work is increasingly apparent. Also in Washington DC, Scott Gant appeared as co-counsel in the Hoffman-La Roche litigation, Tanya Chutkan is developing a strong antitrust plaintiff practice, and Christopher Hayes is acting for a putative class of direct purchasers of guaranteed investments In Re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation.
PRACTICE: Susman Godfrey LLP is a nationwide litigation boutique with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Seattle. The antitrust practice is well established and popular, built around a core of some 10 lawyers with wider support from attorneys with some experience in the discipline. One client comments ‘the retention of Susman Godfrey LLP sends an unmistakable signal that the principles in the dispute are important and worthy of the most vigorous advocacy - counterparties understand that it is no longer business as usual’. The practice takes both plaintiff and defense instructions.
Recent successful class representations include an out-of-court settlement agreement between Sprint and long-distance telephone subscribers who alleged that Sprint and other telecom companies had fixed prices to help pay for subsidized phone services - the $30m settlement included the distribution of prepaid telephone calling cards to class members. Attorneys from the practice are representing Tessera Technologies in an antitrust case against Hynix Semiconductor alleging violation of California’s Cartwright Act - specifically, that Hynix conspired with other manufacturers to boycott Tessera’s proprietary packaging technology and memory technology in order to establish a monopoly and to fix prices.
INDIVIDUALS: Dallas-based Barry Barnett has a large antitrust practice and acts for plaintiffs and defendants. Stephen Susman, in Houston, is a well-known, top-rank litigator whose practice includes plaintiff antitrust. Clients say, ‘not every lawsuit is won and even those won don’t always leave us winners: be a winner - hire Steve Susman’.
PRACTICE: Berger & Montague, P.C. initially specialized in antitrust litigation but, over time, its reach expanded into wider class litigation - antitrust is just one of a strong set of practices, though it remains important. Clients praise the practice’s lawyers for ‘committing to us and our case without reserve and with great professional ability’.
Current representations include action brought on behalf of two internet baby product retailers against Babies”R”Us (BRU) alleging that BRU and co-defendant manufacturers conspired in price-fixing to exclude discounters. In a class action, Berger & Montague, P.C. antitrust litigators are representing all Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card holders who have paid foreign ATM fees since July 2000 alleging that they have been charged twice for the same transaction - the bank defendants include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank.
INDIVIDUALS: ‘Very bright and creative’, Eric Cramer specializes in antitrust litigation and has particular expertise in medical and pharmaceutical cases although he is also acting in the baby goods retailer case. Bart Cohen is rated as a very strong litigator by clients and is acting in the ATM fee class action. Daniel Berger brings long experience and gravitas to the practice, as does chair H Laddie Montague, who is commended by clients for ‘building a strong team and making sure that it is always performing well’. All members of the practice are based in Philadelphia.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP
PRACTICE: Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP entered 2009 with a new name - having parted company with former partner Michael Hausfeld, who now heads Hausfeld LLP - and without its London branch. Several other attorneys defected with Hausfeld, albeit the firm’s complement was partially rebuilt when two partners joined the practice in early 2009, one from Heller Ehrman and one from Jenner & Block LLP. The firm now has offices in Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago; market penetration is nationwide and international.
The firm’s lawyers practice only in plaintiff class action suits, bringing together parties with grievances to create classes of sufficient size to warrant litigation. Antitrust is one of the firm’s specialist disciplines and it carries a heavy current caseload as well as having a historical record of involvement in many leading cases. The practice has achieved some notable successes including a leading role in long-running, high-profile vitamin price-fixing litigation. Clients generally comment very positively about the service received, although there is some concern that the quality of associates does not match that of the partners.
Lawyers from the practice commenced a major class action in September 2008 against three egg trade groups, and 13 of the largest producers of eggs in the US, alleging unlawful conspiracy to fix the price of eggs and egg-based products. The lawsuit alleges that the cartel had effectively agreed to reduce the number of laying hens by using animal welfare as a pretext and that several below-cost export schemes had been implemented.
INDIVIDUALS: Daniel Small, in Washington DC, chairs the antitrust practice - he is currently involved In re Microsoft Antitrust Litigation and is chairing the experts committee in Rasmussen v General Motors. Seth Gassman, in New York, is acting in some heavy-duty cases including In re Intel Corporation Microprocessor Antitrust Litigation.
PRACTICE: Heins Mills & Olson, PLC is a Minneapolis-based complex litigation boutique of eight attorneys with a very healthy reputation in antitrust plaintiff representation. Clients commend the lawyers for ‘excellent service with timely response’ and ‘thoroughly professional representation and effective advocacy’.
Practice members recently served as co-lead counsel and co-lead trial counsel In re Polyester Staple Antitrust - a price-fixing action on behalf of business purchasers of polyester fiber which was settled in 2008 for $63m. A current instruction involves price-fixing allegations against shipping companies operating services between the US and Puerto Rico.
INDIVIDUALS: Vincent Esades is an expert litigator with long experience of major antitrust cases. Samuel Heins takes the lead in many of the firm’s antitrust class actions and has battled for travel agents against the major airlines and for consumers and the healthcare industry against major pharmaceutical manufacturers. Both are based in Minneapolis.
Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP
PRACTICE: Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP’s 14 antitrust partners divide between San Francisco and Minneapolis with a lone member of the practice based in Dallas. Members represent defendants in antitrust in price-fixing cases, but also attract a significant number of mid-scale plaintiff class actions. Current instructions include serving as the court-appointed co-lead counsel for the nationwide class of indirect purchasers of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) products such as flat panel televisions - the multi-district action has been brought against the world’s leading manufacturers alleging that the companies engaged in a conspiracy to artificially inflate prices.
INDIVIDUALS: In San Francisco, practice co-chair Craig Corbitt is an experienced litigator with wide experience of cartel instructions.
PRACTICE: Hausfeld LLP is the brainchild of Michael Hausfeld, who parted company with his former firm, in which he was a founding partner, and which now practices as Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP, in the fall of 2008. Hausfeld LLP brands itself as a global claimants firm, which includes antitrust plaintiff representation within a wider litigation offering. The firm is headquartered in Washington DC and also has offices in New York, San Francisco and London. A Philadelphia office is planned.
The reputation of the firm and its antitrust practice at this stage largely depends upon the reputation of its lawyers, several of whom come from the Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP stable. However, it has recorded several early successes - in March 2009 settlement was reached with one part of a US-based cartel without a court hearing when Parker ITR, a manufacturer and co-defendant in the cartel and price-fixing allegation concerning the marine hose used to transport oil between tankers and storage facilities, opted to automatically settle claims regardless of jurisdiction.
INDIVIDUALS: Michael Hausfeld, in Washington DC, is an outstanding antitrust litigator and is currently acting in cases such as the long-running air cargo price-fixing litigation against a dozen airlines.