King & Spalding’s antitrust lawyers provide sophisticated, solution-oriented advice to pharmaceutical companies on all aspects of antitrust law from civil and criminal litigation to counseling on sales practices and merger approval. Chambers USA has recognized our antitrust lawyers as “a sharp, practical, business-oriented group” who provide “a great mix of theory and practicality.” We also have been singled out for excellence by The American Lawyer and The Best Lawyers in America, among others.
Our expertise in the pharmaceutical industry includes antitrust litigation before trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, on issues ranging from the settlement of patent litigation between brand and generic companies to international cartel investigations. With the potential for large government fines and treble damages for private plaintiffs, antitrust cases are rarely run-of-the-mill litigation. King & Spalding’s antitrust expertise and experience offers pharmaceutical firms the finest representation available.
Our antitrust lawyers include several who have served in significant positions within the U.S. antitrust enforcement agencies, including the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. With this experience, we have obtained favorable results for our pharmaceutical clients. For example, in the largest cartel investigation in antitrust history, our client was one of very few defendants to avoid criminal charges and the only defendant to win a summary judgment decision excluding it from the vast majority of civil liability.
King & Spalding’s antitrust lawyers are equally skilled at planning and implementing strategies to gain U.S. and international antitrust approval for pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions. We also advise pharmaceutical clients on joint ventures and strategic alliances in order to ensure compliance with U.S. and international antitrust laws. We regularly appear before all key competition authorities including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General, and the European Commission.
Pharmaceutical clients also turn to us for counseling on a variety of antitrust issues, including benchmarking, distribution, marketing, pricing, trade association participation, and licensing practices including the antitrust issues that arise from authorized generics and the settlement of patent claims between branded and generic drug makers, and the filing of notification with DOJ and FTC pursuant to the Medicare Modernization Act. In addition, we routinely provide antitrust compliance and training programs to in-house counsel and business clients.
By partnering with in-house counsel on our matters, our antitrust lawyers make the commitment to understand each client’s business and legal needs so we can set forth a course of action that is cost-effective and efficient. On pharmaceutical matters, our antitrust lawyers also work closely with members of King & Spalding's nationally-recognized FDA & life sciences practice group in order to deepen our understanding of the products and markets involved.
