Anyone involved in business can be affected by antitrust laws and trade regulations, which reach more than monopolies. These are complex areas of the law and extend to business activities including strategic alliances and acquisitions, dealer and distributor control, pricing policies, trade association activities, joint ventures, licensing, and wage concessions.
The attorneys at Smith Moore Leatherwood help our clients understand the antitrust implications of business decisions. Our clients have come to us from a broad range of industries:
- Apparel Manufacturing & Marketing
- Automotive Financing
- Chemical Manufacturing
- Consumer & Agricultural Products
- Furniture Manufacturing
- Health Care Providers & Networks
- Leaf Tobacco Purchasing & Cigarette Marketing
- Newspaper Publishing
- Retail Sales
- Satellite Television Technology
- Soft Drinks
- Textile Manufacturing
We counsel our clients to ensure their business decisions and policies comply with antitrust laws and minimize exposure to litigation. We assist in Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and other administrative requirements of mergers and acquisitions. We advise clients at the intersection of intellectual property and antitrust law, helping them to protect and leverage their IP assets while complying with antitrust regulations. We have also designed and conducted industry-specific antitrust workshops for management and sales staff covering every major area of antitrust law to help our clients analyze the risks and get on with their business.
Our preventive antitrust practice includes counseling clients on:
- Dealer and distribution contract matters including exclusivity, territorial limits, and resale pricing
- Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic alliances
- Pricing policies and price discrimination
- Licensing and knowledge transfer
- Antitrust audits, development of compliance policies and training
- Activities by cooperatives and trade associations
- Predatory Practices and information sharing among competitors, including intellectual property information
- Franchise matters
When our clients are facing or pursuing antitrust litigation or governmental actions, we help them resolve the issue in a way that achieves the business objective. If the situation calls for preserving supplier, dealer, customer or strategic competitor relationships, we bring our negotiating experience and skills to bear for our clients. When necessary, we aggressively advocate for our clients' interests in antitrust litigation or regulatory action, handling matters in local, state and federal court, in the Department of Justice, before the Federal Trade Commission, or alternative dispute resolution.
Our antitrust litigation experience includes representing clients in the following:
- Government and competitor challenges to mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
- Termination of supplier, dealer, or distributor relationships
- Termination of hospital privileges
- Commercial bribery
- Predatory Pricing
- Monopolization charges, including in the intellectual property arena
- Restrictions in licensing and other vertical agreements