High-stakes antitrust litigation lawyers ready for trial
Bet-the-company antitrust disputes can take years to resolve, so clients need court-ready lawyers with effective strategies to win trials.
In November 2021, partner Shari Ross Lahlou secured a resolution for Marriott International, Inc. in its long-running litigation with TravelPass Group in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas. “The cases alleged a conspiracy among major hotel chains to restrict branded keyword bidding in online search advertising,” she explains, “the stakes were high, particularly given that joint and several damages are automatically trebled under the antitrust law, which also awards attorneys’ fees and costs to prevailing plaintiffs. And because of the nature of the allegations, the entire industry was watching this case with great interest.” The parties reached an agreement to withdraw their respective claims after five days of an antitrust jury trial, litigating both TravelPass’s allegation that Marriott had conspired with other hotel chains and Marriott’s counterclaims that TravelPass had engaged in trademark infringement and false advertising based on deceptive advertising practices. “The client was thrilled with the resolution,
which was very favorable,” Lahlou says, “and Marriott secured a very rare public vindication and apology from the plaintiff.” “Antitrust litigation is often complex, and can last for years,” explains practice co-chair Mike Cowie. “While we seek to resolve such matters short of trial, effective advocacy requires experienced courtroom lawyers who are trial-ready and have experience presenting highly complex legal issues to a jury or judge in an understandable and persuasive manner. Dechert’s trial-preparedness is a real differentiator, as we have shown over the years in cases such as the precedent-setting Eggs jury trial victory and our trial win over the FTC in the Peroxychem merger case.”
Dechert’s antitrust team regularly handles these kinds of high-stakes matters in jurisdictions across the country. Antitrust co-chair Steve Bizar leads a team in a case pending in the Western District of New York, representing a chemical manufacturer in direct and indirect purchaser class actions alleging a price-fixing and supply-reduction conspiracy involving the major domestic producers of caustic soda “We go where the cases are, regardless of where we have offices,” says Bizar, “and clients come to us to handle these disputes because they know we have the judgment and expertise to position them to win.”
We are trial-ready for our clients’ most critical national antitrust disputes.” Shari Ross Lahlou Partner “
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