Practice Strengths

Baker Hostetler's antitrust and trade regulation practice is as varied as the questions our clients face. We not only represent clients in litigation, but we also advise them about compliance, consumer protection and business matters with antitrust implications to prevent antitrust litigation.
For example, we advise on such issues as:

• Pre-acquisition due diligence information sharing and communication rules
• Acquisition pre-closing integration antitrust issues
• Antitrust compliance programs and training
• Proper conduct for participation in trade associations
• Restraints such as exclusive dealing, output, requirements, most favored nations and other restrictive contract provisions
• Joint venture formations and operations under U.S. antitrust laws and antitrust agency guidelines
• Non-competition agreement provisions
• Refusals to deal in patent and non-patent contexts
• Dealer terminations
• Cooperative advertising, minimum advertised price programs, maximum advertised price programs
• Hart-Scott-Rodino Act filings and analysis of filing obligations
• Consumer protection and consumer product safety

Antitrust

Our antitrust counseling practice runs the gamut of the antitrust laws, including issues involving concerted action, monopolization and attempts to monopolize, merger analysis and price discrimination. We represent clients in investigations and litigation initiated by the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department (civil and criminal), the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general and foreign enforcement authorities, as well as private treble-damage antitrust litigation.

Consumer Protection

We represent and advise a broad range of clients, from consumer products recognized as household names to niche marketers who need advice about, or representation in, matters involving federal and state consumer law requirements. These issues involve all aspects of advertising and marketing, from cutting-edge issues of electronic commerce by telemarketers and online sellers to direct marketing by infomercials as well as traditional print and broadcast ads. We also advise clients in credit, mail order compliance, warranties and other specialized areas, such as sweepstakes and other games of chance.

Consumer Product Safety

Our attorneys have extensive experience in representing clients before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, including the submission of required reports and notifications, as well as the design and implementation of product recalls and other corrective actions.

In addition, our attorneys are thought leaders in shaping developments in antitrust law. Baker Hostetler antitrust and trade regulation attorneys are quoted frequently in the general and trade press on current issues, publish commentary on antitrust developments, are active in the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association and have made substantial contributions to the ongoing work of the Antitrust Modernization Commission. In addition, our antitrust and trade regulation team is led by a former Federal Trade Commission attorney, and a number of our other attorneys have served in government antitrust and consumer protection enforcement agencies. As a result, we offer clients an enforcement perspective on litigation and counseling—both in the United States and abroad.

We balance competitive risk and legal compliance in antitrust disputes.

Antitrust and Trade Regulation Experience

• Developed a joint operating agreement application for two large publishing concerns, gained approval of the agreement by the Attorney General under the Newspaper Preservation Act, and defended the agreement against an attempted preliminary injunction by a local advertiser, allowing the two newspapers to merge their business operations and save millions of dollars through operational efficiencies.
• Secured the reinstatement of a dealer that had been terminated by a leading international manufacturer for allegedly violating the manufacturer's resale policy.
• Counseled a trade association of U.S. and multinational manufacturers entering into an alliance with its Chinese counterpart.
• Guided franchisor in designing system-wide pricing structures, including advising as to price discrimination in pricing to franchisees and non-franchisee purchasers.

About Baker Hostetler's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Team

The Baker Hostetler team includes former top prosecutors of the U.S. Justice Department (four of whom received the Attorney General's Distinguished Services Award), former prosecutors for major municipalities, veteran civil trial attorneys and enforcement and other officials from various federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Energy and the SEC.