We have handled appeals involving questions of antitrust and/or competition law in US federal and state courts of appeals, European and Member State courts of appeals, the US Supreme Court, the European Court of Justice and the European General Court.

• Represented respondents in FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health Systems, Inc. in the US Supreme Court, which affirmed the antitrust state-action doctrine that provides that the antitrust laws do not reach the conduct of states or their officers or agents.
• Represented the NCAA in the US Supreme Court in its challenge to a Ninth Circuit ruling relating to compensation of student athletes in NCAA v. Alston.
• Achieved a significant victory in the US Supreme Court on behalf of several ocean shippers in Stolt-Nielsen v. Animalfeeds, a case raising important issues of class arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act. Reversing the decision of the Second Circuit (and the arbitral panel), the Supreme Court ruled 5-3, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor not participating, that the Federal Arbitration Act prohibits the imposition of class arbitration on parties when there is no legitimate contractual basis to conclude that they agreed to class arbitration.
• Represented the NCAA in a prior case in the Ninth Circuit, NCAA v. O’Bannon, related to amateurism and compensation of student athletes.
• Secured dismissal of antitrust claims challenging Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp and its policies governing developer access to Facebook’s platform on timeliness grounds and failure to state a claim..
• Successfully defended in the Ninth Circuit dismissal of California Cartwright Act and Unfair Competition Law (UCL) claims against Regal Cinemas over alleged exclusive film distribution arrangements in Starlight Cinemas v. Regal Entertainment Group.
• Successfully defended in the Second Circuit dismissal of Sherman Act Section 1 claims against Regal Cinemas in Cinemart v. Regal Entertainment Group.
• Represented Medtronic in obtaining an affirmance of a summary judgment against a claim that implicated complex issues at the intersection of Copperweld and the conspiracy to monopolize doctrine.
• Represented Equinor in obtaining affirmance of dismissal of price-fixing claims in Prime International Trading, Ltd. et al. v. BP P.L.C. et al. by the Second Circuit.

Our team litigates and resolves antitrust and competition matters for defendants and plaintiffs in courts and other proceedings in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe and its member states.

• Representing Meta (f/k/a Facebook) in two significant antitrust class actions, one on behalf of a putative class of Facebook users and the other on behalf of a putative class of Facebook advertisers.
• Representing a major technology company in an antitrust case brought by Masimo in the District of Delaware alleging monopolization, false advertising and infringement.
• Representing a major technology company in multiple cases brought by app developers in the Northern District of California alleging monopolization and breach of contract.
• Representing a multinational food corporation in a class action alleging wage fixing and information sharing relating to red meat processing plants.
• Successfully obtained dismissal for a prominent pharmaceutical company in a case brought by over 30 state attorneys general in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania over alleged efforts to block entry of generic versions of one of the company’s pharmaceuticals.
• Successfully represented the University of Pennsylvania in a lawsuit alleging that Ivy League schools conspired to not pay student-athletes.
• Represent the University of Pennsylvania in a class action lawsuit claiming that the university and other schools colluded to award only several hundred million dollars a year in financial aid to undergraduates.
• Successfully obtained dismissal of a class action complaint alleging a no-poach scheme against naval shipbuilders and marine engineering firms in the Eastern District of Virginia.
• Successfully obtained dismissal of an FTC complaint against Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe alleging violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act in the Eastern District of Texas.
• In a stunning October 2018 victory in federal district court in New York City, obtained the acquittal of client Rohan Ramchandani, the former head of G-10 foreign exchange trading for a major bank, who faced a sentence of up to 10 years in prison had he been convicted on criminal antitrust charges. His employer had previously pled guilty and paid the largest criminal antitrust fine ever imposed, $975 million, purportedly based entirely on Mr. Ramchandani’s conduct. The trial win marked the culmination of five years of work on Mr. Ramchandani’s behalf by WilmerHale’s criminal antitrust litigators in the firm’s US and UK offices, as global authorities conducted a sweeping investigation into an alleged conspiracy to manipulate the $5.3-trillion-a-day EuroDollar market. Prior to the trial, WilmerHale persuaded the UK’s Serious Fraud Office to close its investigation. Subsequent to the acquittal, WilmerHale litigated against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in its pursuit of a banking employment ban and $5 million fine against Mr. Ramchandani. Following expert and fact discovery, the OCC dismissed its case with prejudice.
• Successfully obtained dismissal of a Section 1 claim against the Salt River Project.
• Successfully obtained dismissal on behalf of Equinor ASA and its US affiliates in a lawsuit alleging that certain major oil producers and traders manipulated and fixed prices of Brent crude oil through manipulation of a price reporting agency.
• Represented ELNA in a class action alleging more than $1 billion in damages before Judge James Donato in the Northern District of California, resulting in a favorable settlement.
• Represented Cephalon in a prominent action brought by the FTC in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and in separate antitrust actions by putative classes of direct and indirect purchasers of Provigil^® as well as by a would-be generic competitor Apotex, Inc., all of which challenged Cephalon’s settlement of Hatch-Waxman patent litigation.
• Led the defense of auto parts maker DENSO Corporation and its subsidiaries in the largest and most complex antitrust investigations and civil litigation in history, involving alleged price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation of dozens of automotive parts. In the investigations, besides obtaining the largest fine reduction in US history from the DOJ, WilmerHale coordinated with counsel in over a dozen parallel investigations around the world, achieving remarkable success. In the civil litigation, WilmerHale led the defense of a multidistrict litigation (essentially on behalf of all defendants), involving 40 sets of class actions, each involving up to five putative classes, achieving dismissal in numerous cases while favorably settling others. WilmerHale was recognized by Global Competition Review for its very favorable settlement of the Auto Dealer and End Payor Class Actions.
• Represented Statoil ASA and Statoil US Holdings against putative class actions on behalf of crude oil derivatives traders and oil-producing landowners who alleged that major oil producers and traders manipulated price reporting agency crude oil benchmarks.
• Represented a major insurance carrier in the Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation, where we successfully secured dismissal of all federal antitrust, RICO and ERISA claims in the consolidated class action complaint against employee benefits insurers, as well as the related state law claims.

Our European and UK antitrust practice provides premium competition law services, particularly at the intersection of antitrust, regulatory and intellectual property law.

• WilmerHale represented Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores (CSAV) in a car carrier cartel investigation before the DOJ and the European Commission, and in other jurisdictions. The case concluded with a favorable settlement in the European Union in 2018. Negotiating the EU settlement required an excellent reputation, relationship and cooperation with the commission. We continued to successfully assist CSAV in a number of follow-on damages actions in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Notably, these included obtaining from the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal on December 6, 2023, the first-ever settlement in a collective action under the UK collective proceedings regime.
• WilmerHale represented Lufthansa, the amnesty applicant, in a cartel investigation before the DOJ and the European Commission, and in numerous other jurisdictions. Obtaining amnesty in this complex investigation involving a large number of regulators required excellent reputation, relationship and cooperation with all relevant regulators. We also coordinated Lufthansa’s defense in a number of follow-on damages actions, including in Germany and the United Kingdom, where we negotiated settlements on Lufthansa’s behalf. 
• WilmerHale represents parties in litigation regarding issues at the intersection of competition and intellectual property law, including alleged standards essential patents.