Antitrust and Trade Regulation

The Antitrust and Trade Regulation Group provides legal assistance to clients on a broad range of problems related to state and federal regulation of business and competition, including antitrust, franchising, noncompetition agreements, trade secrets and unfair trade matters. Our efforts range from the structuring of transactions to litigating before judicial and regulatory bodies.

The Antitrust Group's efforts have three primary focuses. First, we counsel clients on how to avoid antitrust and trade regulation problems. We regularly advise our clients on the structure of transactions, distribution patterns, relationships with suppliers, and pricing policies. Because our antitrust attorneys are also litigators, the Antitrust Group is well-equipped to provide practical advice on avoiding litigation risks. We are not in the business of telling our clients that they cannot take certain actions. Rather, we find innovative ways for clients to achieve their business goals in a manner consistent with the law.

Second, the Practice Group litigates antitrust and trade regulation cases, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. We have litigated claims of monopolization, price-fixing, tying, refusals to deal, price discrimination, dumping, enforcement of non-competition agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets, franchise law violations, and resale price maintenance, among others. Our litigation efforts (like our counseling activities) have gained us expertise in a wide variety of industries, most notably health care, manufacturing, computer software, sports and entertainment, retailing and title insurance. Our experience has ranged from relatively simple dealer termination cases to class actions and merger cases involving the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission.

The Antitrust Group also has substantial experience in defending parties against merger and conduct investigations by federal and state antitrust and other regulatory agencies. We have extensive expertise in dealing with the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, including defense of a number of major investigations before each agency. Our efforts at the antitrust agencies have occurred at every level, from regional offices to the head of the Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commissioners. We also have significant experience before offices of attorneys general in many different states.

Honigman has also been successful in raising antitrust claims on behalf of our clients. Again, efficiency is emphasized. By communicating claims to the opposing party before litigation, our efforts have often resulted in a quick resolution of the problem and substantial settlements without the need to resort to expensive litigation. Less