Antitrust
We have handled a number of important and high profile antitrust matters, both in federal court and before the Department of Justice.
- We won three trials and an appeal on behalf of WGN-TV, which stymied the National Basketball Association’s efforts to eliminate WGN’s telecasts of Bulls games. In another antitrust case filed in Denver, we defeated the plaintiffs’ claims that Tribune Broadcasting had monopolized the purchase of programming from major syndicators such as Warner Bros.
- We acted as lead counsel for DVD kiosk rental pioneer Redbox in actions against three major studios, Universal/NBC, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Brothers. The actions, filed under the Sherman Act, the Copyright Act and state common law, sought to assure Redbox a steady supply of new-release DVDs to rent to consumers in the face of industry action to bar sales to Redbox by downstream distributors and retailers. All three actions were successfully resolved through settlement in the winter and spring of 2010. See Redbox Automated Retail LLC v. Universal City Studios LLLP, et al., No. 08-766 (RBK) (D. Del. Aug. 17, 2009).
- We represented a well-known company in California when the Department of Justice investigated its pricing policies. We convinced the DOJ to drop the matter without filing a complaint.
- When a competitor alleged that our client had market share of over 80 percent in an alleged “Southeastern U.S.” market, and that our client’s marketing incentive programs violated the antitrust laws, we obtained summary judgment for our client, establishing before trial that the relevant geographic market was national in scope. The competitor had also told our client’s wholesale customers that participation in our client’s marketing programs could expose them to potential antitrust liability. We counter-sued for defamation on behalf of our client and, after prevailing on the antitrust claims, won a record verdict at trial on the defamation counterclaim. Republic Tobacco, L.P. v. North Atlantic Trading Co., Inc., 254 F. Supp. 985 (N.D. Ill. 2002), aff’d 381 F.3d 717 (7th Cir. 2004).
- We obtained summary judgment for Safety-Kleen on a competitor’s claims of attempted monopolization and unfair competition in California. We also persuaded the court to sanction the opposing lawyers with one of the few, and the largest, Rule 11 awards ever granted in the Utah federal court.
- The National Hockey League Players’ Association retained us when one of its terminated licensees filed a lawsuit in California claiming that the NHLPA’s licensing practices violated the antitrust laws. We won a dismissal of all claims. We also represented the NHL Players’ Association and two college hockey players in a group boycott/conspiracy case against the Ontario Hockey League and its Member Clubs in the Eastern District of Michigan.
- We provide antitrust counseling to many of our clients. This advice encompasses review of pricing, joint venture, distribution and a variety of other business practices potentially implicating state and federal antitrust statutes.