Antitrust and Competition

“The BakerHostetler legal team is very knowledgeable and experienced … We see no weaknesses in the team.”

— Chambers USA

Clients trust us to guide their most complex antitrust litigation, provide profitable business and transaction advice, and successfully defend against challenging government investigations worldwide. Our deep bench includes more than 50 antitrust lawyers, many of them former high-ranking regulators from key government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, as well as state attorneys general. With a well-established record of success, we are recognized as a leading practice by Chambers USA and The Legal 500.

Representing Equity Residential, a coast-to-coast real estate lessor, in defending against dozens of nationwide MDL class actions in federal court, as well as related federal and state government investigations, alleging a Sherman Act Section 1 conspiracy in the purported multifamily residential real estate market. The complaints allege that Equity Residential and other property developers conspired to use RealPage Inc.’s pricing analytic software to fix residential lease prices.
Successfully defended downstream energy company Alon USA Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of Delek US, against allegations of price-fixing in the California gasoline market. The federal court in the Southern District of California in a precedent-setting 103-page opinion granted Alon’s motion for summary judgment and also the summary judgment and expert preclusion motions of its co-defendants. The cases were brought against multiple major oil refiners by putative classes of direct and indirect gasoline purchasers under the Sherman Antitrust Act and California’s antitrust statute, the Cartwright Act. The plaintiffs alleged that California consumers were overcharged at the pump between 2012 and 2022 due to the defendants’ allegedly coordinated refinery shutdowns, exchange agreements, wash trades, and imports and exports to restrict the supply of gasoline and create the appearance of gasoline shortages. Plaintiffs had sought $15 billion in damages before trebling. Persian Gulf Consolidated Antitrust Litigation (S.D.Cal.).
Defeated claims of unfair competition and false advertising on behalf of a national manufacturer, and through a counterclaim, recovered a significant monetary result and imposed a 10-year consent decree against its competitor. In a subsequent proceeding with our client’s insurance carrier, the arbitrator found our work to be “indispensable” to the client.
Represented Findaway World LLC in a second-request merger investigation by the DOJ Antitrust Division. The acquirer was Spotify USA. The Division cleared the matter without seeking any remedy after the parties provided a full response to the second request and were questioned in depositions. Our successful resolution of the matter allowed the client to consummate the acquisition and allowed Spotify to accelerate its entry into the audiobook retail market.
Represented a leading manufacturer of industrial equipment against claims challenging its replacement parts policy. After a directed verdict in favor of our client on the antitrust claims, the jury returned a verdict – affirmed on appeal – dismissing the remaining state law claims.
Represented a biological products concern in a major vitamin industry price-fixing case involving more than 100 criminal and civil lawsuits worldwide, with our client paying only minimal fines compared with the multimillion-dollar judgments and criminal sentences for other defendants.
Successfully represented two major airlines against claims of price-fixing on commissions brought by a nationwide class of travel agents and by class opt-out plaintiffs.