Rob Katerberg represents clients in high-stakes complex civil litigation in federal and state courts across the country through trial and appeal, focusing primarily on antitrust, consumer class actions, and litigation challenging or defending major federal government actions impacting regulated industries. Recognized by The Legal 500 US for his work in commercial disputes and antitrust litigation, Rob helps his clients navigate complicated legal and factual thickets and develops innovative strategies to achieve favorable resolutions, including early pre-discovery dismissals and elimination of class allegations.
Prior to joining the firm, Rob served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch, where he represented federal agencies as first chair in numerous landmark cases involving challenges to government actions and programs. Rob served as a law clerk to The Honorable R. Lanier Anderson III on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit between law school and entering practice.
Experience
- Nucor Corporation, as lead counsel defending against $500 million antitrust group boycott lawsuit by competitor related to U.S. national security tariffs on imported steel, resulting in dismissal of all claims with prejudice on multiple grounds, and affirmed on appeal at the Fifth Circuit.
- Zinus, a household furniture manufacturer, as lead counsel defending against multiple nationwide consumer class actions alleging product defects and misrepresentation relating to mattresses.
- Visa in defending against litigation alleging anticompetitive conduct in the debit card industry.
- Samsung Electronics America as lead counsel in successful defense of numerous consumer class actions involving smartphones, relating to alleged issues ranging from pixel technology to radiofrequency emissions testing to overheating. In over a dozen cases, no classes were certified; in one, plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed Samsung after a few months while continuing to prosecute the case against Samsung’s competitor for years.
- Ford Motor Company as lead counsel defending against litigation challenging agreement between California environmental regulators and major truck manufacturers as preempted by the Clean Air Act.
- Sandoz in multidistrict litigation involving private class actions and State Attorney General actions, alleging that generic drug manufacturers conspired to fixed prices. Architect of legal strategy for opposing $1 billion pre-judgment attachment remedy that eventually led to states abandoning that request.
- Multiple companies as lead counsel in data breach/cybersecurity class actions by individuals whose personal information on company servers was disclosed as a result of third-party criminal activity.
- U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency as lead counsel defending against decade-long series of separation-of-powers suits by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders challenging constitutionality of agency’s structure in seven different courts, culminating in multiple appellate victories.
- Zinus, as lead counsel prosecuting RICO/unfair competition case against competitors for transshipping mattresses to evade U.S. trade duties on those mattresses’ countries of manufacture.
- Altria in U.S. Federal Trade Commission antitrust proceeding challenging the company's minority investment in Juul, including lead responsibility for third-party competitor witnesses at trial.
- Former U.S. FBI employee as lead counsel prosecuting lawsuit against DOJ and FBI for unlawful disclosure of private information culminating in $2 million settlement.
- Nucor in defending against multiple major antitrust litigations, including decade-long class actions alleging industry-wide collusion, $165 million group boycott lawsuit in which Nucor was fully exonerated on appeal while its four co-defendants all either settled or were adjudged liable, and Robinson-Patman price discrimination suit by disgruntled former distributor.
- BP and Atlantic Richfield Co. in U.S. Supreme Court appeal involving federal preemption of claims by property-owners in or around Superfund site.
- BP as lead counsel in numerous Fifth Circuit appeals relating to claims by a wide spectrum of Gulf Coast businesses for economic losses in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and settlement.
- Cable company as lead antitrust counsel in development and assertion of antitrust “Walker Process” counterclaims in patent infringement case relating to voice-over-internet-protocol technology.
Perspectives
Recognition
Credentials
Education
- J.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law
- B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits
Clerkships
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, The Honorable Lanier R. Anderson, III