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.

McDermott Will & Schulte lawyers have been on many of the landmark antitrust litigation cases of this century. From securing summary judgment in the precedent-setting price-fixing chocolate confectionary litigation to prevailing on behalf of several hospital systems in the first batch of wage-fixing class actions, we have successfully litigated and defended on appeal the full gamut of novel antitrust cases.

Clients turn to us for our enviable track record in cutting-edge matters and unparalleled experience as lead counsel on actions involving:

• Price-fixing
• Cartels
• Monopolization
• Tying
• Dealer terminations
• Group boycotts and refusals to deal
• Exclusive dealing
• Antitrust counterclaims in patent and trademark litigation
• Litigated challenges to mergers and acquisitions

Our antitrust class action defense lawyers are some of the most experienced in the United States, and we are on the pulse of litigating private competition law damages claims in Europe. We regularly represent clients before foreign and domestic regulatory agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US Department of Justice (DOJ), state attorneys general and the European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Competition. We also represent clients in competition litigation in European Union and Member State courts.

Members of our team previously held key positions regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including the FTC, the DOJ and the EC.

Who We Represent

Understanding our clients’ industries is paramount to litigation success. Our experience encompasses most markets, and we regularly deliver results for clients from all sectors of the economy, including the following:

• Consumer products
• Food, beverage and agribusiness
• Healthcare
• Life sciences
• Financial services
• Insurance
• E-commerce
• Digital advertising
• Aerospace and defense
• Chemicals
• Energia
• Manufacturing
• Tecnologia

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.

Dealmakers need deal lawyers. Everything we do—from thinking creatively to acting with agility—is designed to help you secure the best possible outcome in every transaction.

Our first priority is to manage and assess your risks and opportunities, all while looking for the most efficient way to get the deal done. That begins with developing a strong thesis for the transaction, outlining exactly how you’ll benefit. We align our strategy and advice with your objectives to guide you through each step of the private equity lifecycle. When we spot a complex issue, we tackle it and move on, so your deal won’t get caught in the weeds. With our business-focused team working to anticipate the unknown and deliver actionable solutions, we help you stay ahead of the curve from fund formation to exit.

Deals are complex and require mastery of multiple disciplines. That’s why cross-practice collaboration is an integral part of our unique model. You have direct access to all of our experienced lawyers in any area you need. Our integrated team includes lawyers focused on a wide variety of practices, including:

Learn more about our Private Equity Practice.