Civil litigation/class actions: plaintiff in United States
Berger Montague
Berger Montague has a flair for handling high-stakes plaintiff-side cases, regularly winning high-value settlements for clients following antitrust law violations. The department helped achieve the largest-known settlement of an antitrust class action in history in the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, with the class settlement fund reaching approximately $5.62bn. Particularly effective at handling cases in the financial services and life sciences sectors, the department is jointly led by firm chairman Eric Cramer, commodities, securities and environment expert Merrill Davidoff, class action heavyweight Laddie Montague, and David Sorensen, who frequently represents direct purchasers of prescription drugs. In addition, Cramer focuses on representing workers claiming that anti-competitive practices have suppressed their pay. Another name to note is Michael Dell’Angelo, who has expertise in price-fixing matters, as well as other anti-competitive wrongdoing affecting financial instruments. All named attorneys are based in Philadelphia.
Practice head(s):
Eric Cramer; Merrill Davidoff; Laddie Montague; David Sorensen
Other key lawyers:
Michael Dell’Angelo; Caitlin Coslett
Key clients
MMA Fighters Cung Le & Nathan Quarry
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
FX Primus Ltd.
High Level Management Venturers
Century Aluminum Company
ABF Freight System Inc.
Work highlights
- Represented the Rule 23(b)(3) Class Plaintiffs in a class action brought against Visa, Mastercard, and several large banks which have played substantial roles in operating the Visa and Mastercard networks alleging that certain Visa and Mastercard rules artificially inflated interchange fees.
- Served as co-lead counsel for the class of direct purchasers of the Alzheimer’s drug Namenda, achieving a settlement of $750m, the largest settlement in Hatch-Waxman antitrust litigation with a single defendant in history.
- Served as co-trial counsel to a certified class of direct purchasers of electrolytic and film capacitors in the case In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, reaching settlements with eight defendants totaling $232m.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
'One of the top firms in the field on the plaintiffs' side, respected by plaintiffs and defense firms alike', Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC specializes in original proprietary cases, leveraging a team of licensed private investigators to investigate corporate wrongdoing. ‘Highly skilled in dealing with economic issues that arise in antitrust cases’, the wider antitrust group excels in high-stakes antitrust class actions, most notably securities, pay-for-delay, no-poaching and wage suppression disputes. Although particularly prominent in the pharmaceutical sector—an area of focus for New York-based Sharon Robertson—the team is also well equipped to handle disputes arising from the financial services, hi-tech, electronics and agriculture sectors. The group, which is led by Washington DC-based duo Benjamin Brown and Brent Johnson, also includes price-fixing and monopolization suit expert Richard Koffman; Daniel Small, a 'real team player'; and the ‘smart, seasoned, and highly capable strategist and oral advocate’ Kit Pierson, all of whom are based in the DC office.
Practice head(s):
Benjamin Brown; Brent Johnson
Other key lawyers:
Richard Koffman; Daniel Small; Kit Pierson; Sharon Robertson; Daniel Silverman
Testimonials
‘Excellent at integrating economic analysis into the legal arguments in a way that makes the ultimate “story” that’s told persuasive and multi-faceted.’
‘Dan Small focuses on the big picture, but then works to make sure that all of the individual elements fit into, and support, that big picture. Careful to consider arguments from all sides in order to best structure counter-arguments. Dan is also a real team player – a critical role in multi-firm litigations.’
‘They are one of the top firms in the field on the plaintiffs’ side, respected by plaintiffs and defense firms alike.’
‘CMST has some lawyers who are highly skilled in dealing with economic issues that arise in antitrust cases.’
‘Kit Pierson is a smart, seasoned, and highly capable strategist and oral advocate.’
Work highlights
- Acted for UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust, on behalf of a certified class of California self-funded payors, in an antitrust class action alleging that Sutter Health used anti-competitive contract terms and contracting practices with the major health insurance companies in California to insulate itself from competition and to increase prices.
- Served as co-lead counsel for Arnell Prato, DDS, PLLC and all other plaintiffs in In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation.
- Represented a certified class of third-party payors in litigation which alleged that Allergan agreed to a settlement with the third-party payor class plaintiffs with respect to Loestrin 24 FE, a top-selling birth control drug, for a total $62.5m, rather than face trial over antitrust claims that the company colluded with would-be generic manufacturers, Watson and Lupin Pharmaceuticals, to delay lower-priced generic versions of Loestrin.
Hausfeld LLP
Cited as the ‘pre-eminent antitrust litigation practice on the claimant side in Europe’, Hausfeld LLP also remains a go-to for plaintiff antitrust actions in the US, with offices and dedicated antitrust litigators dotted across the country. Presiding over the practice group are Bonny Sweeney in San Francisco and Scott Martin in New York, the latter of whom is singled out for his multifaceted practice, which includes ‘complex federal multi-district actions, class actions involving direct and indirect purchasers, parens patriae cases’. Stationed in the firm’s DC office is talismanic founding chairman Michael Hausfeld, one of most sought-after names in plaintiff-side actions in the US, and an expert in cases involving monopolization, tie-ins, exclusive dealing and price-fixing. In San Francisco, Megan Jones stands out for her expertise in antitrust cartels, regularly procuring settlements for clients. Other names to note are the 'very smart and responsive' Melinda Coolidge and the 'commercially minded' Brian Ratner, both of whom work from the firm's hub in Washington DC.
Practice head(s):
Scott Martin; Bonny Sweeney
Other key lawyers:
Michael Hausfeld; Scott Martin; Brent Landau; Brian Ratner; Megan Jones; Melinda Coolidge; Reena Gambhir
Testimonials
‘Hausfeld has a first-class team of plaintiffs-side antitrust litigators, many of whom previously practised on the defense side.’
‘Hausfeld LLP has built an outstanding international antitrust practice. Its lawyers are top-notch in all respects and particularly expert in everything about antitrust law.’
‘It is the pre-eminent antitrust litigation practice on the claimant side in Europe.’
‘The team is incredibly effective in handling our most pressing commercial matters. They are immediately responsive, savvy, commercial, and can boil down extremely complex matters into easily digestible and thoughtfully articulated solutions.’
‘The team at Hausfeld is at or above the pinnacle of all firms in its practice area. They are always available and work with clients to customize legal services in a way that makes you feel they are a partner and not a service provider concentrated on fee collection.’
‘Hausfeld LLP is a law firm that has an unusual mix of being both commercially minded and legally capable. Beyond that, they are simply pleasant to work with, which is important in complex, potentially long-running litigation.’
‘Melinda Coolidge is easy to work with and very smart and responsive.’
‘Scott’s practice extends to bench and jury trials in both federal and state courts, complex federal multidistrict actions, class actions involving direct and indirect purchasers, parens patriae cases, FTC and DOJ investigations as well as other regulatory actions, and qui tam litigation.’
Key clients
PepsiCo
MillerCoors
Trammo
Peabody Energy
Suzuki Motor Corporation
TMS
CONSOL Energy
Praxair (now Linde)
Deutsche Bahn
American Honda Motor Company
Suez Environmental SA
Veolia
BMW
Hertz Europe
Metro AG
GKN
Suffolk County Water Authority
Renault
Work highlights
- Serving as co-lead counsel (as well as on the plaintiff’s steering committee) in In re Blue Cross Antitrust Litigation, alleging that over 30 Blue Cross/Blue Shield entities across the country have entered into agreements not to compete with each other for customers of health insurance.
- Serves as co-lead counsel in a class-action lawsuit against the four leading manufacturers of disposable contact lenses—Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Alcon, Bausch & Lomb, and CooperVision—and the dominant distributor, ABB Optical Group, alleging that the defendants joined horizontal and vertical conspiracies to adopt, implement, and enforce resale price maintenance policies, euphemistically referred to as unilateral pricing policies, on certain disposable contact lenses.
- Serves as co-lead counsel for a proposed class of plaintiffs, who allege that Celgene engaged in a multi-faceted scheme to maintain its monopoly and interfere with competitors’ efforts to enter the market with generic versions of Thalomid and Revlimid.
Susman Godfrey LLP
Susman Godfrey LLP's litigation generalists possess a deep well of experience representing plaintiff-side companies and individuals alike in high-profile matters. Here, antitrust-focused team members frequently prosecute claims for monopolization, price-fixing, market allocation and other unlawful conspiracies, oftentimes for Fortune 500 companies. In light of its non-hierarchical structure, the group has lawyers on an equal footing across the country. In the Houston office, co-managing partner Neal Manne, founding partner Stephen Susman, Barry Barnett and James Southwick are all recognized for their enviable plaintiff-side practices; in Los Angeles, 'IP star' Kalpana Srinivasan and 'outstanding strategist' Marc Seltzer are routinely involved in complex multi-district actions; while on the East Coast, New York-based Bill Carmody has a vibrant bet-the-company trial practice in which he serves as lead counsel to some of the country’s biggest companies. After a brief period back in private practice, Randy Wilson was appointed to Houston's 14th Court of Appeals bench in January 2021.
Practice head(s):
Neal Manne; Kalpana Srinivasan; Marc Seltzer; Barry Barnett; James Southwick; Bill Carmody
Other key lawyers:
Vineet Bhatia; Arun Subramanian
Testimonials
‘In addition to being very bright lawyers, they are zealous advocates, savvy about interactions with federal courts (owing to the near-universal clerkship experience in their ranks) and fully prepared to pivot and produce time-sensitive motions of exceptional quality when necessary.’
‘Marc Seltzer in Los Angeles is encyclopedic in his knowledge of procedure and competition cases, an outstanding strategist, and a wonderful colleague.
‘Arun Subramanian in New York is an excellent oral and appellate advocate.’
‘Kalpana Srinivasan in LA is widely recognized as an IP star and a joy to work with.’
Key clients
Repeat Precision
Westlake Chemical Corp.
Walmart
Veeva Systems
Insignia Systems
Vitol
Vaporstream
HouseCanary
NASDAQ
Masimo Corporation
Novell, Inc.
ACE
Work highlights
- Won a final judgment of nearly $40m for client Repeat Precision, which was the target of an antitrust, fraud, and breach of contract lawsuit brought by Diamondback Industries.
- Serves as co-lead counsel to subscribers of DirectTV’s NFL package in multidistrict litigation alleging that the NFL, the NFL teams, and DirecTV’s agreements relating to DirecTV’s exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package violate federal antitrust laws.
- Acting as counsel for Vitol, Inc. in a series of cases recently filed by the California Attorney General and various class action law firms alleging violations of California’s Cartwright Act and Unfair Competition Law related to trading of gasoline products in California’s spot markets.
Zelle LLP
Plaintiff-side litigation boutique Zelle LLP has a strong presence on both US coasts, spearheaded by James Robertson Martin, who chairs the Washington DC office, and Judith Zahid in Oakland. The practice group is often involved in high-stakes multi-jurisdictional litigation, primarily focusing on individual recovery actions on behalf of corporate plaintiffs and class actions on behalf of direct and indirect purchasers. Also in Oakland, Christopher Micheletti has played a leading role in the successful prosecution of several California state antitrust class actions; and Qianwei Fu focuses on the representation of consumers and opt-out claimants in antitrust cartel and monopolization cases, spanning the energy, automotive, transportation, and tech sectors. Washington DC-based Jennifer Duncan Hackett regularly advises clients on issues pertaining to pre-merger notifications, including Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and gun-jumping issues.
Practice head(s):
Judith Zahid; James Robertson Martin
Other key lawyers:
Jennifer Duncan Hackett; Christopher Micheletti; Qianwei Fu; Eric Buetzow
Key clients
FDIC
Freddie Mac
United HealthCare Services, Inc.
El Pollo Loco, Inc.
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP has experience representing plaintiffs and defendants, but is particularly active on the plaintiff side, litigating a broad variety of antitrust actions. It first garnered attention for its role in international pricing cases, but has also developed a reputation for handling cases alleging conspiracies, non-competitive agreements and monopoly. New York-based founding partner David Boies, Washington DC-based Scott Gant and Carl Goldfarb in Fort Lauderdale are the practitioners to note. In mid-2020, Christopher Renner moved to Davis Wright Tremaine LLP while William Isaacson joined Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
Joseph Saveri Law Firm
Plaintiff-side antitrust boutique Joseph Saveri Law Firm fields a team of specialists primarily based in San Francisco, though the firm also recently opened an office in New York. The team has experience handling an assortment of price-fixing, monopolization, illegal reverse payments, monopsony and no-poaching agreement matters. Jointly led by Steven Williams and founding partner Joseph Saveri, the group is rated both for direct and class action litigation, and has considerable experience representing clients in antitrust and qui tam actions. Elsewhere within the team, Anupama Reddy focuses on antitrust class actions alleging price-fixing and monopolization; Gwendolyn Giblin specializes in cases relating to consumer protection; Christopher Young is another name to note for class actions; and Kyle Quackenbush focuses on matters at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property law in the pharmaceutical industry.
Practice head(s):
Joseph Saveri; Steven Williams
Other key lawyers:
Gwendolyn Giblin; Anupama Reddy; Christopher Young; Katharine Malone; Kyle Quackenbush
Key clients
Class of direct purchasers of capacitors used in electronic devices
End-Payor Plaintiffs in an antitrust class action filed against Allergan, Inc.
Elite Professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fighters
Consumers of Nestlé’s Poland Spring brand “100% Natural Spring Water”
A class of content moderators against Facebook
Proposed Indirect Purchaser Plaintiffs Class of individuals and companies who purchased interior molded doors from Defendants JELD-WEN, Inc. and Masonic Corporation
Consumers who purchased Cipro, a blockbuster antibiotic drug.
Nationwide class of content moderators against YouTube
Work highlights
- Advising a class of direct purchasers of aluminium, tantalum, and film capacitors used in electronic devices, in In Re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation.
- Advising class of content moderators alleging Facebook is improperly protecting them from trauma and PTSD experienced from viewing and removing offensive content.
- Advising Cipro drug customers against Bayer Corporation and other drug companies for entering into an unlawful agreement to keep a generic version of Cipro off the market and selling it at inflated prices.
Labaton Sucharow LLP
Leveraging an in-house team of eight investigators, New York outfit Labaton Sucharow LLP is a key name for litigation stemming from anti-competitive conduct in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, as well as sophisticated and novel manipulation cases concerning foreign exchange, interest rate swaps, Treasury bonds and commodities, such as platinum and gold. Led by Gregory Asciolla, the group represents both business and public pensions funds in antitrust as well as commodities class actions, pursuing price-fixing, monopolization and bid-rigging violation cases in particular. Giving the practice a panoptic scope and strategic advantage, many key practitioners in the group come from a defense-side background, including newly appointed partner Robin van der Meulen, whose blossoming practice features many noteworthy pay-for-delay cases in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Other names to note are Karin Garvey and of counsel Matthew Perez, the latter of whom is also active in financial services cases. Christopher McDonald retired at the outset of 2020.
Practice head(s):
Gregory Asciolla
Other key lawyers:
Karin Garvey; Matthew Perez; Robin van der Meulen
Testimonials
‘Excellent attorneys on the substance and procedure of complex antitrust cases, and they always conduct themselves professionally and with integrity.
‘Greg Asciolla and Robin van der Meulen are first-rate attorneys to litigate against.’
Key clients
Boston Retirement System
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 Welfare Fund
Massachusetts Bricklayers and Masons Health & Welfare Fund
Electrical Workers Pension Fund Local 103 I.B.E.W.
Kathryn Anne Radek, Lauren Hayes, and Janine Cherasaro
731 Pharmacy Corp. d/b/a Ivan Pharmacy
Work highlights
- Acting as co-lead counsel in the first nationwide class action alleging a conspiracy by prominent financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Barclays, to rig the $13tn market for securities sold by the US Department of the Treasury.
- Serves as lead counsel for UFCW Local 1500 Welfare Fund in an MDL that now includes more than 100 cases against numerous manufacturers, over allegations of wide-spread price-fixing in the generic pharmaceuticals industry.
- Serves class counsel for Boston Retirement System in an action that has, to date, recovered more than $2.3bn in from Barclays, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and others, over allegations of anti-competitive conduct in the foreign currency exchange (FX) market.
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
At Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Brendan Glackin has taken up the position of chair of the plaintiff-focused antitrust practice group, which has a solid track record in challenging global cartels, monopolies and other anti-competitive practices on behalf of a whole host of companies, consumers, investors and employees. Based exclusively in the firm’s San Francisco office, the team has developed notable expertise in matters at the nexus of antitrust and employment law, including no-poach agreements and resulting wage suppression. In addition to these general skill sets, Glackin is also experienced in anti-competitive actions and issues which arise in the healthcare industry. Elsewhere, Eric Fastiff has seen an uptick in cases related to the sports and pharmaceutical sector, while Dean Harvey regularly represents clients in antitrust cases, particularly price-fixing conspiracies, converging between employment and IP law. Also active in this space is Lin Chan, who has experience in matters affecting employees and consumers.
Practice head(s):
Brendan Glackin
Other key lawyers:
Eric Fastiff; Dean Harvey; Lin Chan; Katherine Benson
Work highlights
- Represents a pair of top US swimmers and a top Hungarian swimmer in a class action monopsony lawsuit filed in December 2018 against FINA, the international organization that controls access to the Olympic Games and World Championships, over its threats to ban swimmers from the Olympic Games if they compete in events that FINA does not pre-approve.
- Representing plaintiff employees in a series of “no-poach” employment antitrust suits against various franchise food organizations including McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, Little Caesar’s Pizza, Burger King, and Jimmy Johns sandwich shops.
- Representing a number of plaintiff patients against Carolinas HealthCare System in a lawsuit alleging improper contract restrictions on insurers forbidding them from guiding customers to lower-cost competing hospitals, driving up healthcare costs.
MoginRubin LLP
Founded in 2017, class-action boutique outfit MoginRubin LLP
is recognized as having ‘extensive experience in litigating antitrust matters’, leveraging ‘close contacts with prominent expert economists and damage experts’. Commended for its ability to secure ‘large verdicts and settlements on behalf of consumer and industry plaintiff classes’, it has experience assisting a broad range of clients, from Fortune 1000 companies to start-ups, and board executives to entrepreneurs. Jonathan Rubin in Washington DC and Jennifer Oliver in San Diego jointly lead the department alongside Daniel Mogin, a San Diego-based attorney rated by clients as ‘a particularly gifted trial lawyer’. Also in the firm’s San Diego hub are associate Timothy LaComb and senior counsel Joy Sidhwa, the latter of whom leads the document discovery team and provides invaluable support in antitrust litigation. The group has wide-ranging expertise, but has been especially active in the areas of financial services, cybersecurity, transport and retail.
Practice head(s):
Daniel Mogin; Jonathan Rubin; Jennifer Oliver
Other key lawyers:
Timothy LaComb; Joy Sidhwa
Testimonials
‘Both Mr. Mogin and Mr. Rubin have extensive experience in litigating antitrust matters particularly class actions. The firm has close contacts with prominent expert economists and damage experts. They have secured large verdicts and settlements on behalf of consumer and industry plaintiff classes. Although the firm is small in number, it continually punches above its weight.’
‘Dan Mogin has enormous experience in the field and is a particularly gifted trial lawyer combining deep knowledge of antitrust law and theory with the ability to explain and persuade to judges and juries in plain and convincing style.’
‘The matter we are being assisted with by MoginRubin LLP is a complex antitrust case. Each of the partners and associates specialize in competition law, so they are well-versed in the subject matter and able to deal with complex legal issues quickly and efficiently in a way that is oriented toward results. The attorneys in the firm are all very capable and personable.’
‘After working with another attorney who was unable to proceed with our complex antitrust matter, we engaged Jonathan Rubin, who is an experienced and highly regarded antitrust attorney and a PhD economist. Jonathan was able to steer the strategy of the matter to success in each of the case milestones that we reached along the way.’
Key clients
Kleen Products
Bruce Renard, Executive Director of the National ATM Counsel
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
The antitrust team at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP has particular expertise in plaintiff-side cases that arise at the nexus of antitrust and intellectual property laws. Stephen Neuwirth chairs the antitrust and competition litigation group, which is retained by an array of individuals, classes and large corporations, with notable strength in actions brought in the financial services sector. Neuwirth's colleagues Steig Olson and Daniel Brockett also shine in plaintiff-side antitrust actions, many of which see the pair come up against major Wall Street banks and other, disparate financial service defendants. The team is primarily based in New York, though it also has a presence on the West Coast in Los Angeles-based Kevin Teruya, who is also heavily involved in plaintiff-side class actions, and has vast experience before both state and federal courts, particularly in California.
Practice head(s):
Stephen Neuwirth
Other key lawyers:
Daniel Brockett; Steig Olson; Sami Rashid; Kevin Teruya
Key clients
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC
Olivia Van Iderstine and Mitch Oberstein, on behalf of themselves and all those similarly situated
Ashton Woods Holdings, L.L.C.; Beazer Homes Holdings Corp.; Calatlantic Group, Inc.; D.R. Horton Los Angeles Holding Company, Inc.; Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc.; KB Home; Meritage Homes Corporation; M/I Homes, Inc.; Pulte Home Corporation; The Drees Company; Toll Brothers, Inc.; Tri Pointe Homes, Inc.
Mackmin, et al.
Compañía Minera Dayton (“CMD”) and class of investors in gold and gold-related instruments
Torus Capital LLC; Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System; Orange County Employees Retirement System; Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association; Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association
The City of Philadelphia
Public School Teachers’ Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago, and the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association
Allianz GI, Anchorage Capital, the AP funds, BlackRock, BlueCrest, Brevan Howard, CalSTRS, Erst
Work highlights
- Achieved a $110m settlement for Olivia Van Iderstine and Mitch Oberstein, on behalf of themselves and all those similarly situated (plaintiffs), alleging that Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated the federal antitrust laws by monopolizing and/or attempting to monopolize the relevant markets for primary and secondary ticketing services.
- Achieved $66m in settlements from JP Morgan and two other banks on behalf of a class of ATM users alleging that Visa, MasterCard and certain banks engaged in an anticompetitive scheme to raise ATM user fees.
- Acting on behalf of Compañía Minera Dayton and class of investors in gold and gold-related instruments, achieved a $60m settlement with Deutsche Bank in multi-district litigation against five banks accused of colluding to manipulate worldwide gold prices.
Robins Kaplan LLP
Fielding a team of 'excellent lawyers who know how to litigate and fight intelligently for their clients' interests,’ Robins Kaplan LLP has a strong track record in representing individuals and businesses alike in both class actions and direct actions. The practice group is now jointly led by Kellie Lerner in New York and Minneapolis-based Craig Wildfang, whose plaintiff-side work spans actions brought in the financial services, insurance and agricultural commodity sectors. Also working from the firm’s Minneapolis office are the ‘smart, hard-working, collegiate’ Stacey Slaughter and ‘tremendous strategic thinker’ Thomas Undlin, both of whom are well versed in plaintiff class actions. Another name to note is William Reiss, who is recognized by clients as a ‘strong, up-and-coming attorney’, who ‘will be a superstar over time’.
Practice head(s):
Craig Wildfang; Kellie Lerner
Other key lawyers:
Thomas Undlin; Stacey Slaughter; Aaron Sheanin; Meegan Hollywood; William Reiss
Testimonials
‘Very collaborative and responsive.’
‘Great lawyers, wonderful to deal with, excellent strategic insight. ’
‘Tom Undlin is a great colleague, a tremendous strategic thinker, and very good at seeing the wood from the trees.’
‘Stacey Slaughter is smart, hard-working, collegiate. Stacey has a wonderful ability to develop and implement concrete practice steps to address difficult and thorny problems.’
‘Craig Wildfang leverages his tremendous experience to provide real strategic value add to the lawyers running the litigation day-to-day.’
‘In my experience working with various plaintiff groups, I have found the RK team to be the most professional, thoughtful, and overall strong. They are excellent lawyers who know how to litigate and fight intelligently for their clients’ interests. They are also practical and realistic, and know when to fight and when to settle to get the best outcomes for their clients.’
‘Will Reiss is a strong, up and coming attorney in their group who will be a superstar over time. Kellie Lerner is an accomplished attorney and is also excellent. Meegan Hollywood is also a rising star.’
‘Robins Kaplan has a highly-skilled group of attorneys doing cutting edge legal work. They often take on large and difficult cases, with a high success rate.’
‘Kellie Lerner is both a brilliant lawyer and a truly good human being. Kellie commands the room not by shouting but with quiet confidence. She knows how to put people at ease, how to get the best work from her team, and how to advance the firms goals both in the courtroom and in the community. Similarly, I am a big fan of partners William Reese, Meegan Hollywood, and Aaron Sheanin, each of whom is an experienced litigator of the highest quality doing dynamic, cutting edge litigation.’
Key clients
A class of over seven million U.S. merchants who accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards and debit cards for the purchase of goods and services
Supervalu Inc.
A proposed class of consumers and businesses who purchased or leased new vehicles in the U.S. not for re-sale (end-payor plaintiffs)
A class of persons who obtained an automobile loan through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. or its subsidiaries or divisions, and who were charged for Collateral Protection Insurance and/or related fees between October 15, 2005 and September 30, 2016
A class of purchasers of disposable contact lenses in the United States that were subject to minimum retail pricing policies imposed by the four largest contact lens manufacturers
A proposed class of end-user indirect purchasers of hard disk drive suspension assemblies
Oxbow Carbon & Minerals
A proposed class of persons and entities that purchased the mumps vaccine directly from Merck
Monmouth County, New Jersey
A proposed class of persons or entities that purchased K- Cups directly from Keurig
A proposed class of indirect purchasers of interior molded doors
A proposed class of direct purchasers of broadcast television advertising
Mark Serri and a proposed class of entities who bought or sold gold, silver, platinum, and palladium futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange (“NYMEX”) and Commodity Exchange, Inc. (“COMEX”)
A proposed class of broiler chicken growers
A proposed class of poultry processing plant employees
A proposed class of indirect purchasers of capacitors
Principal Financial Group Inc.; Principal Funds, Inc.
NFU (National Farmer’s Union), among others, and a proposed class of ranchers and industry trade groups alleging price-fixing in the cattle market
Work highlights
- Serving as lead counsel to a class of over 7 million US merchants who accept Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards in a class action over card-swipe fees.
- Defended Minnesota institution Supervalu Inc. in a billion-dollar multi-district litigation in the District of Minnesota.
- Acting as court-appointed co-lead counsel, secured more than $1.2bn in settlements for victims of an alleged massive web of long-running price-fixing, bid-rigging, and market allocation conspiracies throughout the auto parts industry.
Berman Tabacco
Formerly known as Berman DeValerio, Berman Tabacco is particularly experienced in representing institutional investors, especially large public pension funds, in plaintiff-side price-fixing cases related to financial derivatives and commodities markets. In addition, the group represents an assortment of corporations and individual consumers in actions relating to market allocation agreements, patent misuse, monopolization and group boycotts. Joseph Tabacco and Todd Seaver head up the department from San Francisco. Patrick Egan, in Boston has a particular focus on class actions against financial institutions that face allegations regarding the manipulation of global benchmark rates.
Practice head(s):
Joseph Tabacco; Todd Seaver
Other key lawyers:
Patrick Egan
Key clients
California State Teachers’ Retirement System-
Electrical Workers Pension Fund Local 103, I.B.E.W. and Local 103, I.B.E.W. Health Benefit Plan
New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund
Oklahoma Firefighters Pension & Retirement System
Orange County Employee Retirement System
Univisions-Crimson Holding, Inc.
Bogard Construction, Inc.
Teamsters Western Region & Local 177 Health Care Plan
Work highlights
- Representing Electrical Workers Pension Fund and I.B.E.W. Health Benefit Plan in action alleging defendants colluded to manipulate the prices of bonds issued by Government Sponsored Entities in the secondary market to extract profits for themselves at the expense of plaintiff investors.
- Represents California State Teachers’ Retirement System in Sullivan v. Barclays PLC, et al., No. 13-cv-2811 (S.D.N.Y.) alleging that, between 2005 and 2011, over a dozen major banks colluded to manipulate the Euro Interbank Offered Rate.
- Represents California State Teachers’ Retirement System in Sonterra Capital Master Fund, Ltd. v. UBS AG, No. 1:15-cv-05844 (GBD) (S.D.N.Y) alleging that bank traders and their affiliates from over twenty US, Japanese and European banks colluded to manipulate the Yen LIBOR rate.
Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.
Concentrating on antitrust class actions and individual actions in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. showcases considerable expertise in issues arising at the intersection of intellectual property and antitrust laws. The department is led from New York by Deborah Elman and the 'careful and efficient' Robert Eisler, both of whom have additional experience in class actions related to securities and derivatives. Located in the firm’s Wilmington office, senior counsel Chad Holtzman's work centers on recovering damages for businesses and consumers harmed by price-fixing and monopolization.
Practice head(s):
Robert Eisler; Deborah Elman
Other key lawyers:
Chad Holtzman
Testimonials
‘They are very knowledgeable and well-financed and do not disappear when the case gets tough – as some counsel have done.’
‘My experience is that they are willing to try litigation strategies that are not always commonplace, and with things changing so rapidly in the world, new ways of getting things done are very critical.’
‘Robert Eisler is careful and efficient.’
Work highlights
- Represented a group of subscribers of Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) plans that sought to enjoin an ongoing conspiracy in violation of the Sherman Act involving Blue Cross Blue Shield of America and the thirty-seven other BCBS health plans.
- Serves as co-lead counsel on behalf of end-payor plaintiffs in an antitrust class action concerning Seroquel XR (Extended Release Quetiapine Fumarate).
- Serving on the Executive Committee for an institutional investor in a case concerning Abbvie’s and Amgen’s unlawful scheme and monopolization of the market for Humira.
Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP
Litigation boutique Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP regularly acts as lead or co-lead counsel in large antitrust class actions and private actions. A key figure in the team is Robert Kaplan, who has an illustrious track record in this space. Also recommended is Greg Arenson, who has advised on novel class certification issues. Kaplan and Arenson are based in the firm's New York office.
Practice head(s):
Robert Kaplan
Other key lawyers:
Greg Arenson
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP's antitrust group has a long-standing reputation on both sides of the docket, and strengthened its plaintiff-side credentials in 2020 with the hire of former Boies Schiller Flexner LLP partner William Isaacson , one of the nation’s foremost antitrust trial lawyers, boasting decades of experience in successfully representing plaintiffs in high-stakes antitrust cases nationwide. Isaacson is serving as lead counsel to the direct purchaser plaintiffs (Animal Science Products) in a class action against four Chinese companies—the first price‐fixing case in the US brought against a Chinese company.
Practice head(s):
Andrew Finch; Aidan Synnott; Rick Rule
Other key lawyers:
William Isaacson