McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

I nostri professionisti specializzati in Antitrust Regolamentare e Comunitario offrono consulenza integrata, pratica ed efficiente a clienti italiani e internazionali su problematiche complesse davanti alle autorità antitrust e di regolazione, nonché ai tribunali e alle corti civili e amministrative, sia nazionali che comunitarie. Disponiamo di avanzate capacità tecniche e di creatività che ci permettono di identificare soluzioni personalizzate ed efficaci rispetto alle problematiche del cliente, supportandolo—con apprezzati risultati—anche nel coordinamento dei consulenti di varie giurisdizioni in cui spesso ricadono le operazioni internazionali. Assistiamo, inoltre, i nostri clienti in materia di pratiche commerciali scorrette e pubblicità ingannevole, anche in merito a eventuali profili penali. Il nostro team, abilitato in Italia, Belgio, Francia e Gran Bretagna, lavora a stretto contatto con i colleghi degli altri uffici dello Studio nel mondo e con primari esperti dei paesi dove non abbiamo uffici. Questo ci consente di assistere i clienti al meglio, nei principali settori e mercati nel mondo, in aree quali autorizzazioni di joint venture e acquisizioni transfrontaliere, coordinamento dell’assistenza giudiziale di presunti cartelli globali o pratiche commerciali scorrette su siti web di gruppi internazionali. Il nostro team è menzionato da Chambers Europe 2014 per la sua “notevole expertise in casi di controllo delle concentrazioni, accordi di distribuzione e investigazioni relative a cartelli”.

Le nostre principali aree di attività sono le seguenti:

Consulenza strategica sulla fattibilità e l’ottenimento dell’autorizzazione antitrust di joint venture, fusioni e acquisizioni

L’ufficio italiano è particolarmente attivo nell’area della consulenza strategica in tema di conformità alle normative sulla concorrenza, rivolta ai clienti impegnati nella gestione di controversie commerciali che ostacolano il perseguimento dei loro obiettivi. Forniamo regolarmente pareri su problematiche derivanti dall’interconnessione fra la normativa antitrust e i diritti di proprietà intellettuale, ad esempio nell’ambito di accordi di licenza. McDermott Will & Schulte offre inoltre assistenza qualificata su ogni aspetto relativo alla distribuzione e alla politica dei prezzi, in particolare a clienti che godono di una forte presenza su mercati specifici.

Assistenza durante investigazioni relative a presunti cartelli e intese anticoncorrenziali

Abbiamo maturato una significativa esperienza nella consulenza in investigazioni su presunti cartelli e nella difesa di clienti davanti all’autorità antitrust italiana, alla Commissione Europea e ai tribunali nazionali e comunitari. In collaborazione con i nostri team europei e statunitensi specializzati in antitrust, offriamo consulenza integrata sulle possibili ripercussioni internazionali della partecipazione a programmi di leniency, per l’elaborazione di strategie difensive internazionali e, laddove necessario, l’assunzione della difesa in tutti i fori competenti.

Consulenza su accordi di distribuzione e politica dei prezzi

Offriamo consulenza legale di alto livello a società nazionali e multinazionali, aiutandole a districarsi tra le complesse ramificazioni delle normative italiane, europee e statunitensi in materia di concorrenza, alla luce delle disposizioni vigenti nelle diverse giurisdizioni in cui ricadono le loro operazioni. Le nostre aree di competenza comprendono acquisizioni, joint venture, problematiche relative alla distribuzione e aspetti legati alla concessione di licenze di tecnologia e proprietà intellettuale. Siamo in grado di offrire ai clienti assistenza legale completa in materia di concorrenza, a livello nazionale e comunitario.

Consulenza in materia di regolazione in ambito comunitario, e adempimento delle norme specifiche di settore in varie attività produttive, come telecomunicazioni, agroalimentare e ambiente

Il team italiano offre consulenza su ogni aspetto delle normative nazionali e comunitarie, sia per quanto riguarda lo sviluppo di nuovi programmi regolatori, sia in materia di interpretazione e compliance alle norme in vigore, e alle leggi e ai trattati internazionali applicabili.

Contenzioso nazionale e comunitario, in particolare impugnazione di provvedimenti delle autorità antitrust e di regolazione

Lo Studio ha rappresentato clienti di fronte all’autorità antitrust italiana e alla Commissione Europea nell’ambito di istanze contro operazioni ostili, accordi limitativi della concorrenza e comportamenti dominanti da parte di concorrenti. Il team italiano specializzato in Antitrust Regolamentare e Comunitario ha incrementato l’attività di composizione extragiudiziale di controversie e difesa dei clienti nell’ambito di procedimenti davanti alle autorità antitrust e di regolazione italiane, e ai tribunali e alle corti civili e amministrative sia nazionali che comunitarie.

Based in our Brussels office, McDermott Will & Schulte’s EU Competition team provides end-to-end antitrust and competition representation before the European Commission, other EU institutions and the various national competition authorities.

Our multilingual, multinational team of competition lawyers counsels clients on the entire spectrum of competition issues, including:

• Merger clearance, including structuring and presenting transactions, managing notification processes for multinational transactions, and developing timely, cost-effective strategies for obtaining regulatory clearance
• Cartels, including providing coordinated advice in the EU, United States and elsewhere to defend international cartel investigations and prosecutions
• Horizontal and vertical agreements, including advising on joint research and development, standardization, and supply and distribution agreements
• Abuse of dominance, including defense of companies against regulatory allegations and private complaints of infringement, and pursuing redress on behalf of clients victimized by dominant competitors and suppliers
• State aid, including analyzing the legal situation and drafting documents
• Compliance, including performing competition law compliance audits and helping clients address related regulations involving commercial bribery, data protection, privacy, trade and intellectual property
• Competition litigation, including providing sophisticated defense of clients in national and EU courts in class actions and multi-jurisdictional proceedings.

Our clients include many of the premier international enterprises whose products are major household names, as well as many of the world’s top manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and service providers. We have firsthand experience and a deep understanding of the industries in which our clients operate, including life sciences, chemicals, energy, food and beverages, manufacturing, technology and networks.

As government agencies ramp up their scrutiny of potential antitrust and anti-competitive activity, McDermott’s antitrust lawyers represent clients in all types of government investigations, including defending grand jury investigations, price fixing investigations, investigations on monopolization and unfair competition, and related parallel investigations.

Investigations spurred by competitor complaints are also a growing area of concern, particularly where standards setting—even under programs promulgated by other federal and state agencies—is seen by certain companies as placing them at a disadvantage. Drawing on our firsthand knowledge of agency priorities and investigative procedures, we help clients work with within the investigative framework and develop compelling arguments that demonstrate the validity and legality of their business practices.

From an offensive standpoint, this same agency experience can work to our clients’ advantage. We have successfully represented parties seeking government investigations of anti-competitive mergers, acquisitions, other transactions and practices with the potential to harm our clients.

Our international network of offices allows us to assist clients in these matters on a multi-jurisdictional basis, a critical capability given the ever-increasing level of cooperation between the international competition law enforcement authorities. Our primary goal is to act as an antitrust early warning system, helping clients identify activities and transactions that may increase antitrust and competition, develop and implement proactive strategies, and work with investigators to resolve issues quickly and fairly.

Drawing on the combined resources, experience and record of our top-ranked health law and antitrust practices, McDermott Will & Schulte’s health antitrust lawyers provide clients with sophisticated, practical legal counsel where one of the most highly regulated, rapidly evolving industries meets one of the most complex area of law. We help hospitals, health systems and other providers identify antitrust risks and implement solutions that achieve business objectives and improve the delivery of services.

We regularly advise clients regarding the antitrust implications of provider mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and joint operating agreements and defend those transactions before state and federal antitrust enforcement agencies. We assist clients in the development of clinical integration programs, accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other provider managed care contracting networks such as IPAs and PHOs, and the structuring of co-marketing arrangements, Medicaid collaboratives, trade associations and joint-purchasing arrangements.

We provide legal counsel on a broad range of day-to-day operations that may expose healthcare organizations to antitrust risks, including managed care contracts, economic credentialing, physician conflicts of interest, exclusive services agreements, purchase and use of discounted pharmaceuticals under the Non-Profit Institutions Act, integrated delivery systems, vertical integration and participation in information exchanges.

Our primary goal is to help clients avoid antitrust investigations and litigation. In so doing, we regularly develop and implement antitrust compliance plans, protocols, firewalls and training on appropriate policies and procedures. We also help clients identify and mount potential defenses and immunities, such as certificates of public advantage and joint actions to influence government policy (Noerr immunity). When investigations, civil litigation or class actions arise, our health antitrust litigators draw on their prior successes to mount a solid defense in court and before regulatory agencies.

Antitrust authorities around the world have increasingly focused their attention on the interplay between competition law and intellectual property (IP) law. Indeed, the European Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission and other enforcement authorities have shown considerable willingness to investigate and challenge IP-driven transactions in IP-sensitive industries, often relying on completely new theories of harm which require careful analysis. Investigations and litigation in this context can result in severe penalties including fines, injunctive relief, (treble) damages and unenforceability of agreements and patent rights.

At McDermott Will & Schulte, we understand the business needs associated with the acquisition, licensing and restrictions on the use of IP rights. More importantly, we are aware of the strategic importance of IP and of the true commercial value of such assets. In helping our clients protect and capitalize on proprietary technologies, we focus on pragmatic and business-friendly advice, rather than providing theoretical assessments and opinions. Our antitrust and IP lawyers work hand-in-hand with a view to providing solution-oriented guidance on how to use IP most efficiently without risking competition law exposure. Likewise, we can advise on how clients may use antitrust laws to defend their businesses against anticompetitive use of intellectual property by others.

The apparent tension that exists between these two areas of the law stems from the fact that, while antitrust seeks to protect competition, IP laws grant time-limited statutory monopolies. Antitrust issues in IP cases most commonly arise in a variety of situations including concerns raised with respect to the licensing of technology, standard-setting and patent-pooling arrangements, fraudulent and bad faith patent enforcement, the exercising of patent holder rights in respect to an invention, and holders rights of standard-essential patents in their access to injunctive relief vis-à-vis parties.

We offer a unique international platform for the coordination of legal and technical efforts, and a one-stop shop for global antitrust counseling. Our lawyers are not only highly qualified and dedicated professionals, but also hold invaluable insights into the enforcement priorities of antitrust regulators across the world.

Our Antitrust & Competition team has extensive experience in all facets of the merger review process. We understand the concerns of business leaders and regulators alike and have a reputation for success in even the most difficult, complex deals. Companies with ‘must win’ strategic mergers often turn to our team solely for merger clearance counsel. We have demonstrated success advising as stand-alone antitrust counsel working as a team with the law firm our client has chosen to provide corporate counseling, and have an equally strong record serving an integrated team with our nationally ranked M&A practice.

We regularly defend clients in merger-related antitrust investigations and inquiries before the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). We advise clients at every step, from the earliest transaction consideration through the initial waiting period and, when required compliance with agency requests for additional information, including "second requests." When necessary, we vigorously defend transactions in court. We also represent third parties that wish to oppose transactions before the FTC and DOJ. We are similarly active in other major jurisdictions, and we manage local counsel effectively when filings are required where we do not have an office.

Clients value our ability to get deals through regulatory hurdles, and to do so quickly. Key to our success is a team composed of many former FTC/DOJ attorneys who possess outstanding relationships with FTC and DOJ lawyers. Additionally, we take a proactive approach in which we anticipate issues rather than waiting for regulators to find problems. We learn the industry, talk to agency staff and explain why the transaction is lawful, so that we can address the issues early on and avoid a lengthy investigation.

We continue to explore creative ways to obtain merger clearances quickly and at a lower cost. For instance, McDermott Will & Schulte was the first law firm to use “predictive coding” to comply with the DOJ’s formal information requests. This solution saved significant time and reduced our client’s document production costs by more than $1 million.