Morris, Manning & Martin’s Competition Law Practice provides a broad spectrum of specialized services including preventive counseling, advice on complex issues and the defense of “bet the company” litigation.
We have tackled difficult competition problems in all sectors of the global economy, including:
- Controversial mergers and acquisitions implicating various regulatory systems
- Novel licensing questions
- Complex defenses of corporations subject to cartel investigations
- Sensitive internal and government investigations
- Prosecution and defense of complicated competition claims brought in jurisdictions throughout the United States
The Competition Law Practice works as an integrated team and is particularly experienced in addressing multijurisdictional issues. In addition, in many of our representations, we provide a multidisciplinary perspective to client problems. To serve our clients’ needs, we work closely with our colleagues in other Morris, Manning & Martin practices, drawing upon the knowledge and skills of corporate, intellectual property, regulatory, tax and labor lawyers.
Regulated Industries
Regulated industries give rise to special competition law problems because any legal strategy, whether developed for litigation, for a counseling project or for an acquisition, must take into account not only the principles of competition law, but the interplay of those principles within the legal and administrative framework of the industry. Among the industries in which we have substantial experience are life sciences/healthcare, technology/telecommunications and financial services.
Life Sciences/Healthcare
Morris, Manning & Martin has unique experience and capability in advising life sciences and healthcare industry clients due to the integration of our competition lawyers with our healthcare regulatory lawyers and transactional lawyers who concentrate in this industry. Our knowledge of the industry’s regulated context enables us to effectively and efficiently address competition concerns.
We advise clients regarding a wide range of issues, including mergers, acquisitions and licensing; pricing and distribution; and federal and state competition and consumer-protection investigations.
Technology/Telecommunications
We have substantial experience with the range of competition issues faced by companies involved with the technology, media and communications industries. We handle litigation and counseling, as well as mergers and enforcement actions.
Financial Services
Our lawyers have substantial experience with the competition issues that arise in the financial markets, including the securities and commodities markets. We handle government and private litigation (including class actions), as well as investigations initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Enforcement. We provide advice regarding joint ventures and mergers and assisted with SEC regulatory issues involving competition issues.
Mergers and Acquisitions/Premerger Notifications
Successful mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances are built on accurate assessments of potential competitive risks in the United States, the European Union, Asia and elsewhere. As a transaction is planned, the strategy for addressing competition enforcement agencies and other interested government officials must be planned carefully. We have significant experience advising and working with our clients to develop successful strategies for handling competition issues arising in connection with their transactions.
We are experienced with the full range of competitive issues that arise in the merger and acquisition context, including notification filings with appropriate governmental authorities and responding challenges brought by U.S. antitrust enforcement agencies and other U.S. regulatory agencies, state attorneys general and international authorities. We continuously update our experience with and knowledge of U.S. merger and acquisition enforcement policy as represented by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the myriad of other potential enforcers. We also have extensive experience handling mergers and acquisitions in regulated industries, and are particularly sensitive to the need for careful coordination of filings and proceedings with regulatory agencies at both the federal and state levels.
We work with our clients to maximize the chances of regulatory authority approval of each transaction by:
- Making document submissions in a timely and efficient manner
- Structuring the transaction to avoid or limit competition problems
- Working closely with enforcement agency staff to provide relevant information and to resolve its concerns
- Presenting economic experts to support the client’s position on the transaction’s impact
An important part of client service in mergers and acquisitions is our experience with preparing and filing the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification materials with the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice. We maintain up-to-date knowledge of the filing regulations and provisions of the premerger notification law.
International Competition
Today’s global economy has had a dramatic impact on competition policy and practice. Increasingly, competition cases possess international aspects whether because the parties involved come from countries other than the United States, because the conduct at issue is subject to enforcement by multiple authorities or because criminal or civil discovery has a transnational dimension. Morris, Manning & Martin attorneys successfully anticipate and address the complex issues that arise in these situations.
Our growing international presence allows us to serve non-U.S. companies facing U.S. government enforcement actions and private litigation. We have successfully obtained dismissals for clients based on a lack of subject matter or personal jurisdiction. Where such strategies are unsuccessful, we work closely with non-U.S. clients to develop discovery strategies that take into account the complexity of U.S. discovery for non-U.S. offices and executives. Our experience also allows us to efficiently and effectively represent clients seeking a U.S. forum for their disputes with non-U.S. entities.
When a foreign client faces the possibility of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal enforcement, we work closely with the client and DOJ to resolve the matter as quickly and favorably as possible, taking into account the possibility of enforcement from other countries’ competition authorities. When early resolution is not desirable, we defend such clients by using appropriate procedural and substantive defenses. We regularly serve as international coordinating counsel on such matters, advising clients on the development of a single comprehensive strategy that addresses all potential challenges, whether asserted by government authorities and/or private parties.
