Antitrust

Heller Ehrman is one of the most respected firms in antitrust law, with an exceptional team of lawyers that is distinguished for its experience, skills and success.

We cover every aspect of competition, representing clients in private and government litigation, regulatory proceedings and criminal prosecutions. We excel in disputes that arise in the United States as well as those that cross international borders.

Antitrust has been a centerpiece of our practice since Heller Ehrman was formed more than a century ago.  Since then, our team has expanded and thrived. With almost 70 lawyers in our global competition practice, we have handled thousands of criminal and civil antitrust matters, building a record of success that few firms can match.

Heller Ehrman has represented Microsoft, Sony, Heinz, Visa and other industry leaders in groundbreaking antitrust cases. Our lawyers have handled some of the most significant mergers in U.S. history. And we have been one of the most influential firms in shaping antitrust law in recent years.

Heller Ehrman is ranked among the top 20 largest competition practices worldwide by Global Competition Review and the PLC Cross Border magazines. In a survey of the 300 largest law firms in the United States, we ranked second in antitrust defense by Competition 360, as measured by new antitrust cases taken on in 2006.

Our Lawyers

We have lawyers who are at the top of their profession — trial attorneys who have won landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions and attorneys who have served in senior positions with government agencies in the United States, Europe and Asia. Many of our lawyers have decades of experience in both government enforcement and private  litigation, giving us invaluable insight and perspective.

We are the one of only two firms in the United States with antitrust lawyers recommended by Global Competition Review in all three major U.S. antitrust centers — New York, Washington, D.C., and California.

Our team includes a lawyer who served as an FTC commissioner for 14 years, the former chair of the American Bar Association’s antitrust section, and a former acting assistant chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s telecommunications task force.

Our international practice includes a lawyer who was a chief official for merger review at the Irish Competition Authority as well as a member of the EC Advisory Committee for Competition in Brussels.

Our wealth of experience enables us to represent clients in all aspects of competition law, including government probes, complex litigation, multi-jurisdictional mergers and international cartel investigations.

We understand the different elements at work in competition disputes —  the client’s business, the market forces and the nature of competition. We are both creative and aggressive in our approach, strengths that enable us to manage the most complex cases. We can take a difficult economic analysis and make it simple, understandable and persuasive. We see alternatives that others overlook or never saw. We can defend what may appear indefensible.

And we are relentless in achieving the best possible outcome for our clients.

We have become so skilled in our practice that we have successfully handled cases in a number of different industries, including software, telecommunications, financial services, food manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, energy and oil and gas. We also have represented clients in digital media, entertainment, aerospace and health care.

Litigation

We have played a central role in some of the leading cases in competition law. Antitrust magazine recently cited the three most significant antitrust matters in the United States. We were part of each one, representing Microsoft in pending private and government litigation, defending Visa U.S.A. in the government’s civil suit against Visa and Mastercard, and representing 3M Company in the appeal of LePage’s bundled pricing case. 

We have handled virtually every type of allegation that arises in antitrust suits, including price fixing, tying, monopolization, product distribution, joint ventures, and bundling. With decades of experience, we understand how to manage these complex cases that often span multiple jurisdictions and involve scores of parties. We can grasp the difficult economic aspects, gauge the effect of our client’s actions, seize upon the vulnerabilities of the case against them, and turn them to our client’s advantage.

Our lawyers have a strong record in both the trial and appellate courts. Companies have turned to us to handle their appeals, switching from other law firms that represented them at trial. In the higher courts, we not only have succeeded, we have had a profound effect on this evolving area of the law.

Our lawyers successfully argued the 1977 landmark case, GTE Sylvania, Inc. v. Continental TV Inc. which marked a fundamental shift in antitrust law. We recently won an appeal on behalf of Weyerhaeuser Company in a major predatory pricing case. We also were instrumental in the high court’s recent decision to overrule a century-old precedent. In that case, our brief on behalf of 23 prominent competition economists proved to be so effective that it was cited numerous times in the court’s opinion.

We are currently involved in numerous price fixing cases, including the sweeping litigation involving Sony. We also are part of the first antitrust suit brought against a China-based company, representing a vitamin manufacturer accused of price fixing.

Mergers and Acquisitions

We have a remarkable record in assisting clients with mergers and acquisitions, helping them to gain clearance by guiding them through agency investigations, and, if necessary, representing them in related litigation.

Heller Ehrman has filed hundreds of mergers under the Hart Scott Rodino Act and succeeded in gaining federal clearance for every one of them.

We recently achieved a singular feat, quashing two attempts by the Federal Trade Commission to obtain injunctions blocking proposed mergers. In most instances, a law firm will drop a proposed merger in the face of federal opposition because of the government’s overwhelming success in derailing mergers. But we were confident enough to pursue our clients’ cases and succeeded in defeating the government in both matters in a span of just two years.

With our background in government enforcement, we understand the complicated regulatory process and what economic arguments are likely to be effective, what legal and policy implications are involved, and what it takes to win approval.

Non-Merger Investigations

We have represented many clients in government investigations involving monopolies, horizontal conduct, joint ventures and other anti-competitive actions. Our clients have been both corporate complainants and targets of investigations by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division.

Criminal Cartels

We have handled more than 50 cartel investigations for individuals and companies in an array of industries. Our team includes several former U.S. federal prosecutors with backgrounds in antitrust and cartel enforcement in the United States and Europe.

With our global practice, we are one of the few law firms with the ability to handle both the criminal prosecution and the follow-on civil litigation of a cartel investigation in every major antitrust jurisdiction in the world.

Consulting

We are consultants as well as advocates, advising clients on business decisions that may have legal implications. We understand their businesses and the market influences at work. We advise companies on pricing practices, relationships with customers and suppliers, exclusivity arrangements and other issues that arise in their operations.

Heller Ehrman works as a team. We have some of the best and brightest lawyers in their respective fields, both in the United States and Europe and Asia, and we can call on them to lend their skills and experience. We believe in collaborating to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients.