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Jeffry W. Duffy

Partner

Philadelphia
T +1.215.564.2916
F +1.215.568.3439
jduffy@bakerlaw.com
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Overview

Jeffry Duffy uses his experience as a litigator and former diplomat to advise clients on all aspects of dispute resolution. He concentrates his practice on antitrust and unfair competition, business disputes, insurance and reinsurance coverage and civil rights litigation.

Jeff's varied experience, including U.S. Government service in Japan and Singapore, translates into effective persuasion on behalf of clients in many different settings.

Select Experience

  • Representing Equity Residential, a coast-to-coast real estate lessor, in defending against dozens of nationwide and local class actions in federal court alleging a Sherman Act Section 1 conspiracy in the purported multifamily residential real estate market. The complaints allege that Equity Residential and more than 30 other property developers conspired to use RealPage, Inc.’s pricing analytic software to fix residential lease prices.
  • Successfully defended downstream energy company Alon USA Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of Delek US, against allegations of price-fixing in the California gasoline market. The federal court in the Southern District of California in a precedent-setting 103-page opinion granted Alon’s motion for summary judgment and also the summary judgment and expert preclusion motions of its co-defendants. The cases were brought against multiple major oil refiners by putative classes of direct and indirect gasoline purchasers under the Sherman Antitrust Act and California’s antitrust statute, the Cartwright Act. The plaintiffs alleged that California consumers were overcharged at the pump between 2012 and 2022 due to the defendants’ allegedly coordinated refinery shutdowns, exchange agreements, wash trades, and imports and exports to restrict the supply of gasoline and create the appearance of gasoline shortages. Plaintiffs had sought $15 billion in damages before trebling. Persian Gulf Consolidated Antitrust Litigation (S.D.Cal.).
  • Led a litigation team that obtained summary judgment on all counts on behalf of a manufacturing company accused of contaminating a neighboring business’s groundwater. Based on an extensive discovery record, the court dismissed the plaintiff’s claims under CERCLA, RCRA, and state environmental statutes, as well as various common-law tort claims.
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Experience

  • Representing Equity Residential, a coast-to-coast real estate lessor, in defending against dozens of nationwide and local class actions in federal court alleging a Sherman Act Section 1 conspiracy in the purported multifamily residential real estate market. The complaints allege that Equity Residential and more than 30 other property developers conspired to use RealPage, Inc.’s pricing analytic software to fix residential lease prices.
  • Successfully defended downstream energy company Alon USA Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of Delek US, against allegations of price-fixing in the California gasoline market. The federal court in the Southern District of California in a precedent-setting 103-page opinion granted Alon’s motion for summary judgment and also the summary judgment and expert preclusion motions of its co-defendants. The cases were brought against multiple major oil refiners by putative classes of direct and indirect gasoline purchasers under the Sherman Antitrust Act and California’s antitrust statute, the Cartwright Act. The plaintiffs alleged that California consumers were overcharged at the pump between 2012 and 2022 due to the defendants’ allegedly coordinated refinery shutdowns, exchange agreements, wash trades, and imports and exports to restrict the supply of gasoline and create the appearance of gasoline shortages. Plaintiffs had sought $15 billion in damages before trebling. Persian Gulf Consolidated Antitrust Litigation (S.D.Cal.).
  • Led a litigation team that obtained summary judgment on all counts on behalf of a manufacturing company accused of contaminating a neighboring business’s groundwater. Based on an extensive discovery record, the court dismissed the plaintiff’s claims under CERCLA, RCRA, and state environmental statutes, as well as various common-law tort claims.
  • Successfully defended a manufacturing company against Lanham Act false-advertising claims brought by a competitor, using discovery to formulate counterclaims that forced the competitor to drop its claims and agree to a $7.5 million-dollar settlement in the client’s favor and other corrective actions to create a level playing field; also persuaded court to sanction competitor’s in-house general counsel for unethical conduct in bringing claims against client.
  • In representation of shopping center developer, formulated cutting-edge antitrust claim against competing developer and supermarket chain for unlawful agreement to restrain trade in local supermarket sector; complaint withstood aggressive motions to dismiss, with court ruling that it pled a plausible prima facie case under the Sherman Act and various related state-law causes of action, and that client is entitled to full discovery on its claims.
  • Represented a disabled veteran on a pro bono basis in a successful appeal of the Veterans Administration’s improper denial of medical benefits for the veteran’s service-connected conditions.
  • Working directly with the general counsel and deputy general counsel of a major reinsurance company, secured a favorable decision in a complex arbitration with a ceding insurer over disputed surety bonds.
  • Preserved a summary judgment award in the client’s favor, enforcing an exclusion in a directors' and officers' liability insurance policy, on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
  • Helped a manufacturing company achieve a favorable arbitration outcome to unravel the accounting aftermath of a failed joint venture with one of the client's main competitors.
  • On behalf of liability insurer, obtained a precedential declaratory judgment from a Pennsylvania appellate court enforcing a policy exclusion against the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, acting as statutory liquidator for a defunct insured entity.
  • Negotiated the favorable settlement of a high-value bad faith claim against a professional liability carrier arising from an insured psychologist's improper relationship with a patient.
  • Assisted in two separate trials and appeals that successfully defended the constitutionality of hotel taxes imposed by two Pennsylvania counties to fund local convention centers.
  • Obtained summary judgment and a favorable settlement for a major bank in a dispute with two other banks over a high-value miscoded payment instrument.
  • On summary judgment, defeated contractual claims brought against a bank by the officers and directors of another bank acquired by the client.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • Meritorious Honor Award, U.S. Department of State (2007, 2009 and 2010), including "for outstanding and tireless efforts on behalf of American and Haitian citizens in the aftermath of the devastating January 2010 earthquake."
  • Superior Honor Award, U.S. Department of State (2007)

Memberships

  • Center for Literacy, Philadelphia: Volunteer tutor
  • American Bar Association
  • Bar Association of the Third Federal Circuit

News

News

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Prior Positions

  • United States Department of State: Foreign Service Officer
  • Thompson, Loss & Judge (Washington, D.C.): Attorney
  • Ross, Dixon & Bell (Washington, D.C.): Attorney
  • Stevens & Lee (Reading, PA): Attorney

Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
  • Pennsylvania
  • District of Columbia

Education

  • Diploma, Economics, The London School of Economics and Political Science, 1996
  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 1995
  • B.A., English, University of Pennsylvania, 1990

Blog

In The Blogs

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Antitrust Advocate
Federal Trade Commission's Historic Attempt to Drive a Mack Truck Through the Sherman Act
By Jeffry W. Duffy, Tyson Y. Herrold, Carl W. Hittinger, Justin M. Kadoura
November 21, 2022
Key Takeaways The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a historic statement, setting out a new framework for assessing “standalone” claims of “unfair methods of competition” that can be brought by the FTC alone under Section 5 of the FTC...
Read More ->
Antitrust Advocate
West Virginia v. EPA and ‘Major Questions' Facing the Competition Agencies
By Jeffry W. Duffy
July 19, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 30 decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency[1] will reverberate throughout the administrative state, inviting challenges to agency actions on major policy issues – including those in the...
Read More ->

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