Practice Capabilities

Loeb & Loeb provides a full range of antitrust services, including preventive counseling, advice on complex issues, assistance in investigations and representation in litigation. Our attorneys counsel clients in the U.S. and around the world who are considering strategic business deals, expansions or operational changes. We handle state and federal court litigation on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants throughout the United States. In civil and criminal investigations and adversary proceedings, Loeb represents companies and individuals in matters that span the entire spectrum of antitrust and competition issues. We develop practical and innovative solutions that help clients achieve their business objectives while avoiding costly litigation. We are also regularly called upon to assist clients in resolving ongoing litigation, as well as in developing and administering antitrust compliance programs.

With our advice and counsel, Loeb & Loeb clients are able to anticipate, avoid or defend business practices that may otherwise endure challenges under federal antitrust legislation such as the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, FTC Act, or Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. We are also familiar with countless other agency rulings, informal interpretations, and state laws and regulations that must be considered in evaluating antitrust issues.

Today’s complex antitrust laws are far-reaching in scope and vigorously enforced. The current regulatory climate has resulted in heightened scrutiny of proposed mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic partnerships and collaborations. Companies must also be increasingly vigilant in ensuring compliance with antitrust laws in connection with their day-to-day operations.

Loeb & Loeb’s antitrust attorneys are continuously monitoring these developments so that clients are positioned to respond accordingly. We take an active role in advising our clients with regard to the wide range of business transactions and practices that are impacted by new regulations. These include risks and compliance measures associated with the recently announced HSR changes, which subject business combinations to even more intensive governmental review.

We also draw on the experience of Loeb lawyers in such areas as corporate law; finance; energy; environmental law; intellectual property; employment and labor; patents; bankruptcy; advertising and promotions; emerging media; privacy, security and data optimization; and technology and outsourcing. Our clients rely on our ability to deliver seamless, multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise whenever antitrust concerns arise.

Our antitrust clients include major companies, individuals, trade associations, private equity firms, investors, individual entrepreneurs, executives and others.

Our broad-based antitrust capabilities include issues related to:

• M&A transactions, joint ventures and partnership formations 
• HSR filing requirements, exemptions and recently announced changes 
• Private equity investments 
• Regulatory compliance, record-keeping and reporting 
• Investigations, including those initiated by regulatory agencies, internal units and “whistleblowers” 
• Litigation, including civil and white-collar criminal antitrust defense 
• Consumer protection 
• Cartels 
• Intellectual property and patents 
• Antitrust compliance programs 
• Standard setting organizations 
• Interaction with foreign agencies/commissions and coordination with local counsel in jurisdictions around the world

In addition to federal and state court litigation, we handle antitrust matters before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), state antitrust enforcement agencies and other government authorities.

Service Approach

Loeb & Loeb understands our clients’ businesses and the competitive forces that drive the markets in which they operate. This means that our clients receive the benefits of legal experience and practical business acumen as we help them navigate the complicated environment surrounding antitrust law. Whether expediting a deal closing, advocating on a hostile tender offer, reviewing the patentability of an invention, evaluating supplier agreements or defending against allegations of price-fixing, we are focused on finding the answers and taking the course of action that best achieves each client’s commercial goals and objectives.

Our presence in Washington, DC, allows us to closely monitor legislative trends, follow agency deliberations, and quickly respond to agency requests and hearings in order to help resolve or limit the antitrust or unfair competition concerns surrounding our clients’ proposed actions.

Loeb & Loeb’s strategy for delivering the highest quality legal services in a cost-efficient manner includes: staffing matters with the right individuals, i.e., those with the relevant expertise and skills at the partner, associate and paralegal levels; training all team members to provide cost-efficient services, e.g., using free Internet resources for research and our in-house database of forms, agreements and research memos; establishing and tracking budgets; exploring all ADR options before and during litigation; and working closely with clients to identify their exact needs and expectations and maintaining an open dialogue to respond quickly to changes and suggestions. We also use the most advanced technology to reduce costs associated with tasks such as time tracking and billing, video conferencing, electronic document and records management, document production and searching, and customized client extranets.

We tailor our representation to complement our clients’ needs and in-house resources. Our staffing and rates are designed to ensure efficient matter management as we seek to meet client needs for accountability and cost management in a flexible manner. This ensures that we can efficiently address our clients’ preferences.

Unlike many antitrust lawyers who are more focused on what can’t be done, at Loeb & Loeb we look for what is possible. This “can do” attitude can be traced to the fact that our attorneys work together to explore, evaluate and execute solutions that comply with the law while advancing our clients’ commercial objectives, growth, financial success and innovation. In one particularly noteworthy example, lawyers in the group developed and successfully advanced the argument that any presumption of market power in a Sherman Act Section 1 "patent-tying" claim should have been long rejected by the courts, resulting in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2007 seminal decision in Independent Ink, Inc. v. Illinois Tool Works Inc. Our work on other issues at the antitrust-patent interface has helped other clients navigate through not only Section 1 concerns, but also Section 2 monopolization challenges.

Clients and Industries

Loeb & Loeb’s antitrust clients include entities and individuals in diverse industries including:

• Financial Services 
• Energy 
• Packaging (e.g., food products, DVD/CDs and other consumer goods) 
• Entertainment 
• Biotechnology, Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical 
• Media/Information Services 
• Technology 
• Airline Transportation 
• Publishing

Recent matters handled by members of the group include:

• Represented Imperial Tobacco PLC in its acquisitions of Altadis and Commonwealth Brands. 
• Represented Schaeffler KG in its takeover of Continental AG. 
• Represented market participants in antitrust suits alleging market manipulation and contract actions arising out of the failure to deliver and/or pay for energy, including representing parties in the Enron bankruptcy. 
• Represented electric generation plant owners in litigation against vendors, including a suit against an equipment manufacturer alleging illegal tying. 
• Represented a Fortune 100 technology company in litigation involving claims of antitrust tying. 
• Represented HBOS in its acquisition by Lloyds. 
• Represented Heineken N.V. in its acquisition of Scottish & Newcastle. 
• Represented Randstad Holding N.V. in its acquisition of Vedior, N.V. 
• Represented Corporate Express in its takeover by Staples Inc. 

Leadership in Law

Members of Loeb & Loeb’s Antitrust Practice have written and spoken extensively on antitrust decisions, legislation and enforcement trends. They have also served in leadership roles with the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law, the New York City Bar Association and other organizations serving the legal community.

Attorneys within the group have been recognized by Chambers USA and other premier legal and trade industry publications as leaders in their field.