Antitrust Counseling & Merger Clearance

Competition is at the core of virtually every business initiative and decision, and businesses require sound and experienced advice to ensure they are in compliance with domestic and foreign antitrust and trade regulations laws. Questions that might raise antitrust and trade regulations issues include:

• How can we restructure our distribution system?
• Can we prevent discounting over the Internet?
• What can we do to address our competitor’s false advertising or other unfair competition?
• Can we refuse to deal with an actual or potential competitor?
• Can we sell to our competitor on less advantageous terms than other purchasers?
• Can we expand our market through an acquisition, merger or joint venture strategy?
• How can we restrict our patent licensees from competing with us?
• Can we enter into a marketing alliance with a potential competitor? If so, how?

Businesses not only need answers, they need creative solutions and advice. Our experienced attorneys have assisted clients in multiple industry sectors with proactive counseling and practical advice aimed at allowing our clients to meet their business needs and strategies while minimizing the risks raised by evolving competitive conditions and new program initiatives.

For mergers and acquisitions, we will analyze the transactions to assess the need for any necessary merger or premerger filings in the United States or abroad, develop a strategy for obtaining any necessary clearances and provide common sense advice for dealing with premerger consummation and information exchange issues.

Competitor collaborations often require sophisticated antitrust advice. Our attorneys have significant experience advising clients on structural modifications, operational restrictions and communication strategies to avoid market allocation, price fixing and other significant antitrust concerns.

With the potential for treble damage private litigation and civil or even criminal governmental enforcement, antitrust compliance programs and review are not only prudent but often necessary.

Whether faced with a routine counseling concern, a multinational merger, private litigation or a governmental investigation, businesses turn to our experienced competition attorneys.

Issues addressed by our attorneys on a regular basis include:

• State and federal price discrimination (e.g. Robinson-Patman price discrimination and promotional allowances);
• Distributor and franchise disputes and concerns (exclusive dealing, reciprocal dealing, territorial exclusivity, tying and national accounts);
• Horizontal and vertical price fixing (e.g. minimum resale price maintenance, cooperative advertising programs);
• Geographic, market and product allocation;
• Group boycotts;
• Refusals to deal;
• Competitor collaborations, joint ventures and strategic alliances;
• Antitrust compliance and training;
• Mergers and acquisitions;
• Standard setting;
• Trade associations;
• Intellectual property antitrust;
• Antitrust class actions; and
• Government investigations.