Our attorneys have broad experience in defending clients in civil antitrust investigations initiated by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), US state attorneys general (including multistate attorney general working groups), the European Commission (EC), the UK Office of Fair Trading, the German Federal Cartel Office, and other government agencies around the world. We have several former government officials from the FTC, the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, and the EC in our group.
Our approach to these matters combines a comprehensive understanding of the facts and relevant legal standards with our in-depth experience regarding agency enforcement policies and priorities. We are able to successfully coordinate responses when there are parallel investigations by multiple enforcers, and understand the interplay between government investigations and related private litigation.
By virtue of our extensive experience working with the relevant investigating agencies, we are able to work with them to focus the areas of inquiry and minimize our clients’ burden in responding to requests for information and documents. Then, working with economists and other experts where appropriate, we act as aggressive advocates for our clients’ position on the legal and factual merits. In a number of cases, we have succeeded in convincing the enforcers to close their investigation without taking any action. Where, however, the enforcement agencies are committed to challenging the conduct that they have investigated, we have significant experience in working with clients and the enforcers to negotiate resolutions that address the enforcers’ concerns while protecting our clients’ core business interests.
While many of the civil antitrust investigations on which we work are nonpublic, significant examples of our recent work in this area include representing:
- Visa in several investigations by the DOJ and multistate attorney general working groups, two of which were closed without any action, and one of which was resolved by a consent decree.
- Intel in connection with the settlement of the FTC’s investigation of Intel’s conduct relating to microprocessors and graphics chips.
- A major Hollywood studio in an EU Commission investigation into most favored nation clauses in pay-TV agreements.
Click here to see a representative list of our Civil Antitrust Investigations group's experience.