Fielding a strong bench with significant agency experience, the antitrust and competition practice at Morrison Foerster counts leading pharma companies, media entities, and prominent tech corporations among its impressive roster of clients. The group is particularly adept at handling class actions following cartel investigations, as well as litigated merger challenges and cases concerning market dominance claims. Alexander Okuliar and former Antitrust Division criminal enforcement chief Lisa Phelan jointly oversee the team from Washington DC; Okuliar is a key contact for competitor-on-competitor antitrust litigation. Other key individuals in Washington DC are David Cross, Megan Gerking, and Mary Kaiser. Cross has a broad antitrust practice that covers monopolization and price-fixing allegations, including algorithmic price-fixing; Kaiser is another name to note here. Additionally active in the algorithmic price-fixing space, Gerking, a former DOJ antitrust trial attorney, also takes point on litigated merger clearances. On the West Coast, San Francisco’s Bonnie Lau and Eliot Adelson have extensive experience advising tech sector clients on multidistrict litigations, government enforcement actions, and class actions.
Key clients
- DNA Genotek Inc.
- Matsuo Electric Co, Ltd.
- Avadel Pharmaceuticals
- Barnes Family Ranch Associates
- Propel Media, Inc.
- Teradata
- Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
- The Icon at Panorama, LLC
- Tiz Inc. d/b/a Provi
- UDR
Work highlights
- Defending Propel Media, Inc. in connection with a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) that seeks to enjoin PMI’s acquisition by IQVIA Holdings Inc.
- Representing Provi in an antitrust case against that Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and Republic National Distributing Company relating to allegations of conspiracy to eliminate competition from Provi by prohibiting retailers from ordering alcohol products they need through Provi’s marketplace.
- Representing Nexstar Media Group, Inc., a national media company and the largest owner of local television stations in the United States, in an antitrust investigation by the DOJ and follow-on class action litigation related to the broadcast television spot advertisement market.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Alexander Okuliar, Lisa Phelan