Rob Manoso is a trial lawyer and partner in Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Law Practice Group. His practice focuses on advising clients on all aspects of antitrust investigations, litigation, and compliance.

Rob regularly represents clients in a wide range of antitrust matters, including criminal and civil investigations before state and federal antitrust regulators and private antitrust litigation. He also routinely provides advice on all aspects of antitrust compliance. His clients span a broad range of industries, including pharmaceuticals and life sciences, healthcare, technology and software, financial services, and government contracting.

Rob has significant experience defending against novel claims in both government investigations and private litigation. This includes claims involving AI and algorithms, as Rob recently represented a large REIT in a putative class action alleging that multifamily property owners engaged in anticompetitive conduct, based on the use of a common pricing algorithm. Rob has also provided counseling to revenue management software providers and customers in various industries regarding antitrust risks associated with AI.

Rob’s active pro bono practice includes criminal litigation, asylum applications, election security, and benefits appeals.

Before joining MoFo, Rob worked as an associate at a large international law firm. Prior to private practice, he served as a judicial law clerk for Chief District Judge Thomas Varlan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Rob earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2012 and received his B.A. from the University of Virginia in 2009.

Representative Experience

• Representing Glenmark, a manufacturer of generic drugs, in sprawling antitrust multidistrict litigation alleging price-fixing and market allocation.
• Representing Nexstar Media Group in a putative class action alleging that certain television station owners conspired to fix the prices of local television advertising.
• Representing executives and a major government contractor in separate Antitrust Division investigations in the defense industry.
• Represented a major publicly traded REIT in a putative class action filed by renters alleging that multifamily property owners engaged in anticompetitive conduct to increase the price of leases across the United States.
• Defended Matsuo Electric, a leading Japanese manufacturing company, in litigation asserting federal and state antitrust claims related to an alleged price-fixing conspiracy.
• Represented Teradata Corp., a multi-cloud data platform, in connection with its monopolization and tying claims against SAP SE relating to the market for Enterprise Data Analytics and Warehousing.
• Represented healthcare companies and obtained non-prosecution protections in separate DOJ Antitrust Division criminal investigations.
• Represented a property management software company in civil antitrust litigation involving monopolization and attempted monopolization claims, where summary judgment was defeated and a favorable settlement obtained.
• Represented leading drywall manufacturer in securing approvals for its acquisition by Saint-Gobain.

Pro Bono Work

• Representing Afghan refugees seeking asylum in partnership with Human Rights First.
• Represented a client defending criminal charges in the Eastern District of Virginia; client obtained favorable resolution on the eve of trial.
• Assisted Georgia voters in challenging the constitutionality of state voting equipment.
• Obtained permanent residence for a child and sole custody for a parent after the family fled to the United States to escape an abusive family member.