Julian D. Perlman

Partner

Philadelphia
T +1.215.564.8338
F +1.215.568.3439
New York
T +1.212.847.2864
F +1.212.589.4201

Overview

Julian Perlman focuses his practice on dispute resolution in a wide variety of industries. He is an experienced general commercial litigator and trial lawyer, with a particular emphasis on antitrust and other complex commercial litigation matters. He litigates and advises clients on disputes arising under federal and state antitrust and unfair competition law, and frequently advises shareholders in non-public companies, including founders and private equity firms, regarding shareholder disputes. Notably, he has particular experience advising and representing 50/50 owners in disputes over control, funding and exit issues. He also handles general corporate matters involving claims for injunctive relief, breach of contract, tortious interference and defamation.

Julian advises clients on how to use litigation to implement their business and competitive objectives. He regularly appears on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, and serves as lead counsel in cases across the country, including arbitrations and mediations.

Julian has represented hospitality and entertainment companies, sports leagues and teams, food and beverage companies, building products and equipment manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, fashion companies, private equity firms, banks, insurance companies and individual investors. Julian has been praised, even by adversaries, for his ability and commitment to find solutions and his advocacy on behalf of clients.

Julian has been resident in the firm’s New York and Philadelphia offices. He currently serves as a Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section, Exemptions & Immunities Committee, and contributes to numerous publications regarding developments in the area of antitrust law, particularly on the topics of exemptions and immunities from antitrust law, including exemptions for sports leagues and other sports industry stakeholders.

Julian is on the Board of Managers of the Associated Alumni of Central High School.

Select Experience

Antitrust and Unfair Competition
  • Advised client facing targeted union campaign aimed at unionizing work force regarding antitrust limits on union conduct.
Closely-Held Corporations and Shareholder / Partnership Disputes
  • Represents founder of one of the world’s largest nightclub chains in dispute with former partner and shareholder.
Breach of Contract and General Corporate Disputes 
  • Represented sports league in breach of contract with foreign vendor; Julian’s persuasive filing on behalf of the client lead to payment in full within minutes of service of the complaint.
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Experience

Antitrust and Unfair Competition
  • Advised client facing targeted union campaign aimed at unionizing work force regarding antitrust limits on union conduct.
  • Defended a major manufacturer of building fixtures in an unfair competition dispute brought by a competitor, related to the fire safety performance of the competitor’s products. Ultimately obtained payment from plaintiff to defendant to settle the case it had brought.
  • Represented the worldwide governing body for men’s tennis in antitrust litigation following the league's change of the date and level of one of its member tournaments, leading to a landmark antitrust jury trial. Defended the governing body and its directors, subsequently leading to a favorable settlement which enabled sports leagues to continue setting calendars and tiers of tournaments, without antitrust exposure.
  • Successfully defended a U.S. hockey team and player when a Russian team sued over the recruitment of its star player.
  • Litigated a dispute between two of the world’s largest waste management companies regarding alleged anticompetitive conduct in form of defamatory statements regarding competitor’s CEO.
  • Obtained emergency injunctive relief and protected the client’s trade secrets after a potential corporate merger was scuttled, and the potential acquiring party instead poached key executives from its target.
  • Contributes to numerous publications regarding developments in this area of the law, particularly on the topics of exemptions and immunities from antitrust law, including exemptions for sports leagues and other stakeholders.
Closely-Held Corporations and Shareholder / Partnership Disputes
  • Represents founder of one of the world’s largest nightclub chains in dispute with former partner and shareholder.
  • Prior experience includes the largest corporate dissolution case in the history of New York between the co-founders of the world’s largest privately-held beverage company, which culminated in a 20-day bench trial in New York state court.
  • Represented private equity firm that acquired 50% share in a prominent women’s apparel and accessories brand in arbitration by the company’s founders.
Breach of Contract and General Corporate Disputes 
  • Represented sports league in breach of contract with foreign vendor; Julian’s persuasive filing on behalf of the client lead to payment in full within minutes of service of the complaint.
  • Key member of the team representing an important U.S.-based pharmaceutical company in the arbitration following breach of contract claims over its life-saving cardiovascular product. The resolution ensured the company’s ability to continue to utilize their product.
  • Advised numerous pharmaceutical clients regarding potential mergers and acquisitions, and their interplay with previous agreements and settlements entered into by those clients.
Class Actions 
  • Represented both plaintiffs and defendants in class action litigation.
  • Defending bank and insurance company in class action related to automobile financing.
  • Served as lead attorney in a high-profile class action brought on photographers, illustrators, and other visual artists alleging copyright infringement by the world’s largest Internet search engine and its digital book project.
Financial Institutions, Insolvency, Fraudulent Transfers, and Asset Recovery
  • Advises clients on insolvency issues and fraud recovery.
  • Represented Irving H. Picard, the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Julian worked specifically on Picard v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., et al. which resulted in a large settlement and recovery for victims.
  • Counseled a major financial institution that had invested $2.4 billion into the world’s largest money market fund when the fund “broke the buck.” Management of the client’s claims and monitoring of scores of similar cases helped maximize the institutional investor’s return.
  • Advised a major financial institution regarding potential litigation risks when internal concerns arose about its accounting treatment of derivative products.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • Finalist for 2023 Antitrust Writing Awards by Concurrences and George Washington University Law School
  • Pennsylvania Super Lawyers "Rising Star" (2019)
  • New York Metro Super Lawyers "Rising Star" (2016 to 2018)
  • New York State Bar Association: Empire State Counsel Award

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
    • Antitrust Section, Exemptions & Immunities Committee: Vice Chair
  • New York State Bar Association
  • New York City Bar Association

News

News

Press Releases

Community

  • Associated Alumni of Central High School: Board of Managers

Pro Bono

  • Represented a matrimonial pro bono client of the firm with respect to a trust fund established for her daughter.  
  • Has represented a long-term pro bono client of the firm with respect to minor criminal charges that had the potential to negatively affect his immigration status and was successful in having those charges dismissed.
  • Represented an African immigrant seeking asylum in the United States, one of the longest ongoing asylum cases in the United States. Counseled the client not only with respect to his legal claims, but also helped the client obtain treatment for chemical dependencies that were the result of abuse and torture in his home country.

Prior Positions

  • Phillips Nizer LLP: Partner (2016 to 2018)
  • Baker & Hostetler LLP: Associate (2013 to 2016)
  • Cadwalader, Wishersham & Taft LLP: Associate (2011 to 2013)
  • Mishcon de Reya: Associate (2010 to 2011)
  • Proskauer Rose LLP: Associate (2006 to 2010)
  • The Honorable Mary F. Walrath, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware: Intern (2004)

Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Pennsylvania

Education

  • J.D., Tulane University, 2006, cum laude
  • B.A., Wesleyan University, 2001, with honors, Phi Beta Kappa

Blog

In The Blogs

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Antitrust Advocate
The Growing Threat to ESG Initiatives
By Michael E. Neminski, Julian D. Perlman
February 13, 2023
On Jan. 26, 2023, twenty-four states sued the Department of Labor to block a new rule allowing retirement plans to consider environmental, social, and governance concepts (known as ESG) when administering plan assets.[1] The lawsuit, while...
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Antitrust Advocate
Yer out (for now): MLB dismissed from antitrust lawsuit because of historic antitrust exemption
By Julian D. Perlman
November 8, 2022
In a decision that stunned no one (yet will garner plenty of headlines), a federal district court granted a motion to dismiss filed by Major League Baseball (MLB) on the basis of its storied antitrust immunity. Coming almost on the eve of...
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Antitrust Advocate
Antitrust, Appointments and Presidential Front-Runners: Part 1
By Carl W. Hittinger, Julian D. Perlman
June 6, 2016
Substantial and substantive issues of national importance are often ­obscured by the usual myopic and frenzied focus on political talking points, sensational sound bites and collateral name-calling. This is perhaps better exemplified in...
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Antitrust Advocate
Scalia's Antitrust Legacy: Part 2, The Dissenting Opinions
By Carl W. Hittinger, Julian D. Perlman
May 2, 2016
In March, we wrote about Justice Antonin Scalia’s three majority opinions in substantive antitrust cases. Notably, Scalia also authored three dissenting opinions in substantive antitrust cases, in rapid-fire succession in 1991, ’92 and...
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Antitrust Advocate
There Was a Panel on What?? Notes on the ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting Panel on Marijuana Law
By Julian D. Perlman
April 14, 2016
Attendees at this year’s Spring Meeting may have been surprised by an unexpected panel: an overview of the status of the law related to the legalization of marijuana and antitrust issues facing the nascent industry. However, a single...
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