Litigation/Controversy
“It is our firm of choice for intricate and testing matters.”
Chambers USA 2009 quoting client statements about
WilmerHale’s antitrust practice
WilmerHale has one of the premier antitrust practices in the world that is consistently recognized by Chambers and Global Competition Review as one of the leading antitrust firms both in the United States and Europe. To that strength we add one of the world’s leading litigation and arbitration practices – recognized in particular for strength in intellectual property and Supreme Court advocacy. WilmerHale regularly represents clients in a broad range of industries in civil and criminal antitrust litigation and investigations in both the United States and Europe.
We have successfully represented clients in major antitrust litigation throughout the United States and have compiled a remarkable record of resolving antitrust claims through summary disposition, at trial and on appeal. We also have substantial experience in private antitrust litigation in the EU before the national courts of each member state. Our attorneys are adept at developing and presenting expert testimony on difficult economic, accounting and technology issues that can be critical to a successful outcome.
Representative matters include:
- Credit Suisse v. Billing. Persuading the Supreme Court that implied immunity under the securities laws barred antitrust claims brought against a major investment bank alleging that underwriters have conspired to impose certain anticompetitive charges on investors in exchange for allocations in so-called "hot" IPOs.
- Rambus. Argued a precedent-setting case wherein the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruling that Rambus violated antitrust laws by failing to disclose its patent interests to a standard-setting organization.
- Air Cargo Antitrust Litigation. Defending a major European air carrier in over 100 consolidated private antitrust class action damage claims arising from the Justice Department’s investigation into alleged price fixing among major air cargo carriers. We negotiated a favorable settlement and are assisting the companies in their ACPERA cooperation.
- Cephalon/Provigil Settlements. Defending one of the world’s fastest-growing biopharmaceutical companies in multiple lawsuits, including the one the FTC brought, challenging patent litigation settlements between Cephalon and four companies seeking FDA approval to market generic versions of Cephalon's leading pharmaceutical product, Provigil.
- Philips. Persuading the Federal Circuit to reverse an adverse decision of the International Trade Commission, which had held that package licenses to patents were a form of tying that constituted per se misuse.
- Braintree Laboratories. Obtaining a verdict in favor of a branded pharmaceutical company against a generic competitor’s antitrust counterclaim after a week-long trial in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.
- Nationwide Pallet Recylcer Class Action. Persuading a judge to deny class certification in a suit brought against our client, a leader in the pallet industry, by a group of competitors claiming attempted monopolization and claiming hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
- Regal Entertainment Group. Obtaining a victory for our client Regal Entertainment Group, the largest motion picture theater chain in the United States, winning summary judgment against damage claims by a rival movie theater in New York City that alleged that Regal had conspired with the major motion picture distributors to deny the plaintiff access to major films.
- Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Multidistrict Litigation. We are representing one of the leading US insurance carriers in defending against a massive antitrust and RICO class action filed against most of the country's leading insurance carriers and brokers in the wake of Elliot Spitzer's investigation of Marsh McLennan and other major insurance brokers. The district court three times granted our motions to dismiss all claims in the case. Seth Waxman argued the appeal of the final decision dismissing the claims with prejudice before the Third Circuit on behalf of the 15-defendant joint defense group. The Third Circuit’s decision is pending.
- In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. We are representing a major MasterCard issuer in defending against a massive, multidistrict antitrust class action filed on behalf of merchants against Visa, MasterCard and the major payment card issuers alleging that the interchange fees set by Visa and MasterCard for processing credit card transactions are unlawful.