WilmerHale

Antitrust and Competition; Antitrust Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Intersection of Antitrust and IP; Litigation; Life Sciences; Trials

Partner

Vice Chair, Regulatory and Government Affairs – Boston Office

Mark Ford is a nationally recognized antitrust litigator who represents both antitrust plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts and in agency investigations in matters concerning alleged monopolization, restraints of trade, price fixing, bid rigging, price discrimination, and other forms of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct. Mr. Ford has been recognized as a “Next Generation Partner” by The Legal 500 United States for his antitrust civil litigation practice; ranked as a “Band 1” lawyer in Chambers USA Guide for antitrust and competition law; and twice as “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America for his antitrust litigation practice in Boston. Mr. Ford has successfully represented defendants in high-stakes litigation as well as plaintiffs in challenging predatory conduct by dominant industry players. In addition to this litigation practice, Mr. Ford is a lecturer at Boston University School of Law and the Vice President of the Board of Directors of Greater Boston Legal Services.

Mr. Ford represents clients across of range of industries, including pharmaceutical, medical devices, technology, financial services, energy, aluminum, and automotive.  In addition to extensive experience representing defendants in nationwide class actions, he is expert in business-to-business antitrust disputes, both from the plaintiffs and defendant side.

In addition, Mr. Ford is a recognized leader in antitrust litigator and counseling for clients in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry. He has litigated matters and regularly counsels clients concerning brand-generic settlements as well as defending allegations of sham litigation, Walker Process fraud, alleged "patent thickets," improper “Orange Book” listings and “product hopping.” His clients are among the leading pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical firms in the world, and he has represented those companies and their employees in federal and state courts, before the Federal Trade Commission, and in matters brought by the European Commission.

Mr. Ford also represents companies, including smaller and emerging businesses, hindered by anticompetitive or exclusionary conduct. On behalf of these firms, Mr. Ford has successfully pursued claims of monopolization and attempted monopolization, restraints of trade, price discrimination, unfair competition and tortious interference. Many of these cases involve clients targeted by abusive enforcement of intellectual property, including by bringing antitrust counterclaims on behalf of companies that are targeted by sham intellectual property litigation.

Mr. Ford is the Vice President of the Board of Directors for Greater Boston Legal Services, one of oldest non-profit legal aid societies in America, and a long-time member of its Executive Committee. He is a Lecturer at Boston University School of Law teaching an annual upper-class seminar on Antitrust and Healthcare which focuses on pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical antitrust law. He is a former co-chair of the Antitrust Committee of the Boston Bar Association, and a regular author of scholarly articles focusing on pharmaceutical antitrust issues. Mr. Ford is admitted to practice before the First, Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeals, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the District of Colorado, and the US District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan. Mr. Ford is the former chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the Town of Marshfield, Massachusetts, and a former member of the Town’s Advisory Board.

Bar Admissions: Massachusetts US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit US District Court for the District of Massachusetts US District Court for the District of Colorado US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan US District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Other Organizations: Boston Bar Association

Boston University School of Law, J.D. (2003) University of Pennsylvania, B.A. (1998)