Antitrust Litigation

Antitrust cases are almost invariably complicated business disputes, the consequences of which can be devastating to the litigants if not handled correctly. Such cases require knowledge of not only ever-changing and involved legal principles, but also practical knowledge of how businesses operate in a competitive environment, how markets are defined, and how competition works and how it does not.  We have that knowledge and use it to advise our clients on how they can protect themselves when made the subject of a government investigation or civil suit or when victimized by the illegal conduct of competitors.

Pullman & Comley's litigation attorneys are well-versed in the applicable state and federal laws that govern business operations, including those prohibiting anticompetitive conspiracies, vertical and horizontal monopolies, unlawful mergers, and price discrimination.  We have also handled scores of cases under the Unfair Trade Practices Act of many states.  including the statutes and regulations that govern the issuance of stock by both private and public companies; the rules that define what two or more companies can and cannot do together; and the trade practices that give rise to liability for unfair competition. Whether the case is a shareholder derivative suit, a class action, or whether the claim is made by a consumer or competitor, and whether brought by an individual or class, a state an antitrust or unfair competition claim brought by a customer or competitor, and whether it is filed in state or federal court, we can assist.

• Successfully defended a company against a criminal claim of price fixing in a recent antitrust case and subsequently settled the parallel suit.
• Successfully defended a class action complaint brought against our client to challenge the business terms of the purchase of the company as a product of unfair competition.
• Represented three out of thirty bank defendants in a group of antitrust class actions that were brought on behalf of seven million merchants—actions that were ultimately resolved in a $7 billion settlement. The plaintiffs claimed that Visa and MasterCard colluded with the banks to eliminate competition and increase interchange fees. Pullman obtained dismissal of the claims against two of the banks it represented, and, after extensive discovery, it negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of the third.
• Counseled trade associations or the limitations industry members can share.
• Assisted in the defense of the largest industry participant in the auto glass replacement market accused of orchestrating a group boycott against a new market participant. As a result of extensive litigation efforts, including securing favorable expert testimony, we were able to secure a settlement on terms that were a fraction of what the plaintiff had demanded.
• Defended client in one of the first nationwide antitrust poaching cases, involving claims that the mobility of engineers and the wages they were paid were unlawfully limited by a conspiracy among a large aerospace company and those companies to whom it outsourced engineering work.

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