Over two hundred years ago Adam Smith wrote: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." It is still true today. And, the line separating permissible contact from impermissible conspiracy is a line that we have litigated in scores of cases involving industries from airlines to pharmaceuticals.

Our antitrust practice includes both plaintiff and defense work in cases in federal and state courts nationwide, in which we've represented large public and private corporations, privately held companies, individual entrepreneurs, and government entities. On behalf of plaintiffs- where we often represent individual claimants and groups of claimants who opt out of nationwide class actions and pursue their antitrust claims independent of the class-these have included conspiracy cases involving domestic and international cartels, and monopolization cases.

The firm also represents antitrust defendants in proceedings-including both civil and criminal investigations-arising under the Sherman Act and related federal and state statutes. To help business avoid such problems in the first place we provide antitrust counseling on issues ranging from the formation of joint ventures to the structuring of distribution networks. In the process, we have represented clients in the airline, automobile, dairy, grocery, insurance, real estate, rental car, pharmaceutical, publishing, telecommunications, transportation and shipping industries.

Because of our expertise in this area, our attorneys have taught antitrust law and have served as special assistant attorneys general in several States prosecuting or providing counsel in antitrust cases in a variety of industries.