Antitrust

It might be valuable to understand that antitrust practice is subdivided into two areas: litigation/investigations and mergers. Our lawyers will be more than glad to help you in appealing against a ruling in either category.

1) Litigation of Antitrust Rule of Reason Analysis: Here, our lawyers will use the tools of litigators to help you defend the antitrust “violation” in the event your opponent wins over you in a lower court. Notwithstanding the representation we can offer, this area entails two scenarios. Firstly, litigation matters – also referred to as “conduct” or “behavioral” matters – may take the form of one entity or competitor alleging unfair price-fixing or monopolistic conduct on the practice of another entity or competitor. Secondly, the suit may take the form of enforcement action – often brought pursuant to criminal or civil laws – in which the state or federal government alleges that an entity has violated regulations or antitrust laws.  The US Department of Justice has a federal antitrust division that reviews federal cases.

Suits involving these two scenarios may call on the attorney to use an array of fundamental litigation skills (factual investigation, legal writing and research, taking depositions, documentary discovery, arguing motions in the court of law, engaging in negotiations, etc.) to advance their clients’ cases.

Often the hired experts do a detailed analysis of geographic or product market, and it’s the duty of attorneys to present the final analysis in court in a compelling way. Fortunately or unfortunately, the antitrust law has quite a few regulations and statues, it is not overly regulated like, say, environmental law. As such, discovery in an antitrust case be remarkably voluminous, covering issues pertaining to pricing, supply chain, marketing, product development and the marketing that follows, shareholder meetings (where necessary), emails exchanged in the business’s ordinary course, competitive intelligence, etc.

Either way, we will only get involved if you wish to appeal the decision reached by the court.

2) Mergers: This area calls on the antitrust attorney to advise the client in acquisitions and merger deals. It is the duty of the attorney to file the relevant documents with the correct regulatory authority regarding the merger and/or conduct “due diligence” (which is similar to “discovery” that is often used in the context of litigation) negotiate the outcome that permits the merger to take place. Because this area is closely associated with the life cycles of Mergers & Acquisitions deals, clearance work tends to be more active during good economic times when businesses are performing better, as more businesses are more willing to acquire and merge with others to control a bigger part of the market.

Federal Appellate Antitrust Lawyers

You can’t afford to lose the antitrust appeal case. For instance, being barred from merging with another business entity or acquiring your competitor and increasing your market share may mean you won’t achieve the goals of your business. Here is why you need to hire our lawyers to represent you:

Gives your case a fresh review.

Many clients wishing to appeal their antitrust cases often erroneously retain their trial attorneys thinking that they are more suited to manage their appeal because they already have a thorough understanding of the case. However, a brand new appellate lawyer is what you need because they will avoid bringing the issues that were tabled at trial. Instead, they will identify new issues that can contribute to the success of your appeal. Because the appellate lawyer is not a trial counsel, they will look at your case more objectively and won’t hesitate to locate and raise mistakes made by the trial court.

We may view the facts quite differently by reviewing things the trial attorney might have missed, downplayed, or even ignored. Our lawyers may also emphasize an issue that might have received enough attention during trial, all of which are critical to lodging a successful appeal.

Understands how to use the errors in your favor

Once our lawyers have identified the mistakes, they will be keen to use them to shoot down the ruling made by the trial court. Bear in mind that antitrust appeals lawyers know how to create arguments based on the errors made during trial better than the trial attorney.

Have an understanding or precedents and developing law

In some complex cases, there is a need to argue the case from the perspective of precedence created by a previous case of a similar kind. Antitrust appeals lawyers have a better understanding of the precedents and won’t count three to use them in their agreements if they are in your favor.

Sustained and uninterrupted devotion to develop and win the appeal

Antitrust appeals lawyers work on lodging successful appeals day in day out the whole year – they are married to the practice. Nothing is reassuring like knowing you have hired experts who are devoted to helping you overturn a case that has been unfairly ruled against you. Also, clear and persuasive writing takes nothing but skill and time – time with minimal to no distractions so that you can concentrate on the essentials of the case. Clearly, that’s not what trial lawyers have as they need to deal with cases in trial courts before tackling yours. Our antitrust appeals lawyers serve no one else but the client who wishes to file an appeal.

Excellent writing skills and research

The greatest merit that antitrust appeals lawyers have is good writing and research skills. Although trial lawyers do plenty of writing and research as well, they are not devoted to the practice like their appellate counterparts. Effective writing and research skills are essential because identifying the correct precedent and effectively outlining it in court can mean the distinction between overturning and losing your appeal case.

Knowledge of the soft spots of the judges

Antitrust appeals lawyers have accumulated many years of experience helping their clients file successful appeals. They know the things the judges care about and what they don’t. Antitrust appeals lawyers know that appeal and trial judges always seek to achieve the necessary justice and consistently apply the law. They also know that these judges sometimes confront matters from many areas. Trial court judges tend to have a sharp eye for the facts presented in court, stage of your case, and the development leading to that case.

By contrast, the appellate court does not have a lot of knowledge on the case and may decide it based on the presence or absence of flaws. But more importantly, the antitrust appellate lawyer understands how critical for the judge in the appellate court to:

-Appropriately implement the right standard review

-Not create a precedent that will negatively affect the cases in the trial court

– Develop the law, both in the circuit or appellate, in an effective manner

Just to elaborate on the second point, appellate judges are careful, for instance, about whether their decision will open unwanted floodgates for malicious or frivolous cases, confuse a matter of law in such a way that it will prevent parties from amicably resolving their disputes without litigation, or unnecessarily create a range of fact-intensive problems that will likely drain or strip resources from courts or future litigants.

An appellate attorney knows the best ways of emphasizing the records and building your case on appeal

Doing the necessary research is one thing, and emphasizing those facts to build a formidable case on appeal is another. An attorney with vast appellate experience is poised to effectively identify the most damning mistakes of the trial as well as conducting the best research, all which are definitive to the success of your appeal.

Understanding Antitrust Laws

The United States has a broad spectrum of laws (antitrust laws) that regulate how business entities operate as well as protect the consumers. The main objective of antitrust laws is to create a level playing field for companies in a particular industry while barring them from amassing too much influence in the industry to the disadvantage of their competitors. To put it in simple terms, they prevent businesses from employing dirty tricks to generate profit.