Contact: Lori A. Schechter or W. Stephen Smith
Morrison & Foerster has a long and distinguished track record of successfully representing and counseling clients in a wide
range of complex antitrust matters. The firm has achieved successful outcomes for numerous clients facing critical antitrust
challenges, including antitrust litigation and pre-merger review by antitrust agencies. In March 2006, the news service Competition Law360 ranked Morrison & Foerster’s antitrust practice as one of the Top 10 antitrust litigation practices in the United States.
In 2007, the firm’s global competition practice made the PLC Competition Super League list of the world’s best competition law practices.
Morrison & Foerster’s antitrust practice includes a broad and deep team of seasoned, marquee trial and antitrust attorneys,
to whom many organizations have turned when facing must-win situations in litigation or before antitrust agencies. The scale
of the practice, with experienced antitrust lawyers in each major office around the world, allows the firm to handle a wide
range of matters involving multi-state and international issues seamlessly. Clients also benefit from the team’s depth of
experience in every aspect of antitrust law and expertise in a wide range of industries, including computer hardware and software,
life sciences and healthcare, semiconductors and components, transportation, communications, consumer products, and energy.
Morrison & Foerster lawyers have represented parties in antitrust litigation initiated by private parties as well as governmental
agencies, from the trial stage through all levels of appeal. Notable recent cases include In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. and Celltech R&D Ltd., EchoStar Communications Corp. v. Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc., In re Vitamins Antitrust Litigation, American Booksellers et al. v. Barnes & Noble, et al., In re Cosmetics Antitrust Litigation, and In re Natural Gas Antitrust Cases I, II, III and IV. The firm also filed amicus briefs on behalf of Fortune 500 companies and trade associations in antitrust cases before the
Supreme Court, including Texaco Inc. v. Dagher, 126 S. Ct. 1276 (2006), and Verizon Communications v. Trinko, 540 U.S. 398 (2004).
Morrison & Foerster’s attorneys regularly represent clients in matters before both federal and state antitrust enforcement
agencies, including the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and state attorneys
general. Among the clients represented by the firm in these venues are ALLTEL, Fujitsu, TDK, Yahoo!, and a leading consumer
products company. Federal and state agencies and courts have called on Morrison & Foerster’s antitrust attorneys for counsel
in appropriate cases.
As a global law firm, Morrison & Foerster is also experienced at representing clients before non-U.S. regulatory bodies, such
as the European Commission and the Japan Fair Trade Commission. The firm’s attorneys frequently counsel companies contemplating
mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, and represent them if their transactions are reviewed by European antitrust authorities
or are the subject of European court action. It also advises on European competition law in such areas as distribution and
licensing, and represents clients in administrative enforcement proceedings. The firm also has strong antitrust capabilities
in its Tokyo office and represents clients with respect to issues arising under Japanese antitrust law. Among the clients
represented by the firm in matters involving multi-jurisdictional antitrust/competition law issues are Fujitsu, Hitachi, Matsushita
Electric, Thomson and Toshiba.
In addition to direct representation in antitrust matters, the firm’s lawyers provide counseling to clients regarding a wide
range of antitrust issues, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, pricing policies, intellectual property licensing,
distribution arrangements, trade associations, unfair trade and deceptive advertising issues, and antirust compliance programs.
The firm frequently advises non-U.S. clients regarding U.S. antitrust concerns, and both U.S. and non-U.S. clients in matters
involving non-U.S. antitrust issues. The firm’s lawyers also offer ongoing counseling to clients in several regulated industries,
including communications, financial services, energy and transportation.
