Antitrust & Competition

Notable Experience

Plaintiffs’ side

• Obtained a $151 million recovery as co-lead counsel on behalf of indirect purchasers in antitrust litigation against the leading U.S. and Canadian manufacturers of polyurethane foam involving a cross-border price fixing and market allocation conspiracy. At the time, the amount represented the fourth largest antitrust recovery on behalf of indirect purchaser plaintiffs.
• Obtained a $33 million recovery on behalf of indirect purchasers in antitrust litigation arising out of a nationwide price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation scheme among the country’s dominant manufacturers of liquid aluminum sulfate. The $33 million recovery represented an amount in excess of 100% of the treble damages being sought in the case — a result which is believed to be unprecedented in antitrust class action litigation. In commenting on the recovery, United States District Judge Madeleine Cox Arleo of the District of New Jersey complimented the firm’s “high degree of diligence, perseverance and skillful advocacy,” and remarked in open court that the firm’s efforts “could not have yielded a better result” for the indirect purchaser plaintiffs.
• Obtained a $55 million recovery against Toyota and General Motors on behalf of a class of domestic automobile purchasers in antitrust litigation involving the imposition of wrongful export restraints.
• Obtained $36 million recovery in antitrust litigation arising out of Organon’s efforts to block generic competition for the drug mirtazapine (sold by Organon under the brand name Remeron®).
• Represented large healthcare company in obtaining antitrust clearance from Florida Attorney General on three separate hospital acquisitions.
• Represented the purchasing cooperatives for Subway, Popeye’s Chicken, and Quirch Foods in antitrust litigation involving a multi-billion dollar conspiracy by the country’s major chicken producers to fix prices, rig bids and allocate markets for Broiler Chickens.

Defense side

• Represented Ivax Corporation and its subsidiary Zenith Goldline Pharmaceuticals in one of the first “pay for delay” generic pharmaceutical suppression cases, obtaining a six-figure nuisance value settlement, where the other co-defendants, Abbott Laboratories and Geneva Pharmaceuticals, ultimately payed in excess of $90 million and $30 million, respectively, to resolve the same claims.
• Represented Fortune 500 companies in putative FDUTPA class actions, including cases involving flushable wipes, sunscreen, fuel surcharges, and movie rentals.
• Represented Florikan, a manufacturer and distributor of nursery pots and other nursery supplies, in antitrust action against larger manufacturer and distributor of nursery supplies. Following extensive discovery and motions for summary judgment, the suit was resolved favorably, by agreement.
• Represented charitable gaming organization in Department of Justice price fixing, anticompetitive pricing, and antitrust investigation resulting in non-prosecution.
• Obtained the closing of a formal Department of Justice antitrust investigation for the largest satellite television company in Puerto Rico without any charges being brought.
• On behalf of Google and YouTube, obtained dismissal with prejudice of Sherman Act and FDUTPA claims based on an alleged tying arrangement arising out of purportedly unauthorized postings on YouTube of copyrighted motion pictures owned by a famous Mexican movie producer.

Other experience

• Represented the State of Florida in the investigation of and the multidistrict litigation against the three major infant formula manufacturers for price fixing, resulting in a $13 million Florida-only settlement.
• Represented the State of Florida in the investigation of and the multidistrict litigation against the major disposable contact lens manufacturers for price fixing, resulting in a $84 million global settlement.
• Represented the State of Florida in the investigation of and the multidistrict litigation against the major makers of commercial tissue for price fixing, resulting in a nearly $3 million Florida-only settlement.
• Represented the State of Florida in negotiating several settlements resolving multistate litigation alleging “pay-for-delay” antitrust violations by major pharmaceutical companies, including one on behalf of the states and the Federal Trade Commission totaling over $100 million.
• Co-represented the State of Florida in the investigation and litigation against the major milk processors in Florida for rigging bids on school milk, resulting in a then record $34 million state bid-rigging recovery.