Antitrust and Competition

O’Melveny offers seamless antitrust and competition representation on three continents, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Brussels, Tokyo, and Beijing. At any given moment, we are shepherding mergers through global clearance processes, designing antitrust-compliant licensing or distribution agreements, and vindicating our clients’ interests in the courtroom.

Members of our practice group routinely represent clients before antitrust and competition agencies around the world. Our antitrust and competition lawyers include former high-ranking regulatory officials who maintain close contact with the enforcement agencies, providing clients with invaluable insights into governmental decision-making processes.

The Firm has extensive experience coordinating the global premerger review of complex international mergers and obtaining clearance in challenging situations. For example, we represented Northwest Airlines in its merger with Delta Air Lines, achieving merger clearance from the DOJ, the EC, and six other jurisdictions.  If litigation of a high-stakes acquisition becomes necessary, we are among the few law firms that have the courtroom experience necessary to litigate these complex cases successfully. An illustrative matters is our successful defense of Triton Coal’s acquisition by Arch Coal when the FTC sued to block the transaction.

O'Melveny's antitrust lawyers possess unsurpassed trial and litigation skills as denoted by the precedent setting results achieved by the firm in antitrust treble damages litigation. For instance, the firm prevailed in New York's highest court in what the Global Competition Review termed "a landmark ruling" when the unanimous court held that treble damages class actions are not cognizable under New York's antitrust statute, the Donnelly act (see Sperry v. Crompton Corp., 863 n.e.2d 1012 (2007)). The firm also achieved the dismissal of foreign claims under the rapidly evolving case law of the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (see In re Rubber Chemicals Antitrust Litigation, 504 F. Supp.2d 777 (N.D. Cal. 2007)). Finally, by way of example, the firm successfully defended Nippon Paper in a precedent setting criminal antitrust case which marked the first time criminal charges had been brought against wholly foreign conduct (see United States v. Nippon Paper Indus. Co. Ltd., 62 F. Supp.2d 173 (D. Mass. 1999) (granting judgment of acquittal)).

Many of the Firm’s current antitrust litigation partners began their careers trying monopolization cases for IBM in the 1970s, defending antitrust treble-damages cases for the banking, insurance, and airline industries in the 1980s, and handling the airline price-signaling litigation in the 1990s, often cited as a template for antitrust analysis for B2B e-commerce exchanges. The firm’s involvement in high-profile antitrust litigation continues today as shown by our successful representation of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. against Intel Corporation in the United States, Europe, and Asia in one of the largest antitrust and competition cases ever commenced.

What Others Say About Us

• O'Melveny won "Competition Team of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards (2010). O'Melveny's Brussels team won the prestigious award on the basis of its tremendously successful work for Advanced Micro Devices in the Intel case.  In awarding O'Melveny, The Lawyer wrote, "Working on one of the biggest competition cases of the year was always going to be a feather in the cap for O'Melveny & Myers, but winning it against the odds and securing a record-breaking fine in the process shows what a remarkable job the team pulled off." One judge said the case "has the feel of a David taking on not one but two Goliaths - Intel and the European Commission." In addition to winning the team award, Partner Riccardo Celli was a finalist for the "Partner of the Year" award for his leadership during the case.
• Global Competition Review's 2010 edition of GCR 100―its guide to the world’s leading competition practices―lists O’Melveny’s DC practice in its “Elite” section, commenting that the “strength of the firm’s antitrust team wins praise from rivals,” and lists our California antitrust practice in its “Highly Recommended” category, stating that O’Melveny “boasts one of California’s strongest antitrust practices.”  GCR also highlights O’Melveny’s Brussels practice in its annual "Brussels Competition Bar Survey" in the August/September 2009 issue.  In GCR’s 2009 edition of GCR 100, O’Melveny was listed in the “Global Elite” section―GCR’s list of the top 20 antitrust firms worldwide.  O’Melveny’s Antitrust and Competition practice was shortlisted for Chambers USA Awards for Excellence in antitrust for 2010. In addition, practice co-chair Richard Parker was a finalist for the Award for Excellence in Antitrust in 2009.
• Chambers Global (2010) commends our global practice, stating that our team “is widely respected for its involvement in many significant competition and antitrust cases,” and has “well-established relationship with enviable clients from a variety of sectors.”
• Chambers USA (2010) ranks O’Melveny’s antitrust practice as among the leading practices in California, DC, and Nationwide. Chambers says that “This excellent antitrust group is particularly noted for its expertise in criminal antitrust matters.” Sources are quoted as stating “They are antitrust gods – they have forgotten more than most of us will ever know;” “[O’Melveny] understands the complexity of a case and always assigns the right attorneys;” and “A solid bench of attorneys with deep insight into the agencies and the full range of expertise in merger clearance and litigation.”
• Chambers Europe (2009) states that our Brussels office “has the strength and resources to advise clients on big-ticket international mergers and other multi-jurisdictional competition proceedings.” Sources are cited as saying, “The service is brilliant – it’s rigorous but practical.”
• Chambers Asia (2010) continues to rank O'Melveny among the top international law firms for competition and antitrust in China, stating that our practice encompasses merger notifications to the Ministry of Commerce, strategic counseling on compliance and enforcement risks, IP licensing practices, participation in trade associations, vulnerability to abuse of dominance conduct claims, and unfair trade practice regulations and price-fixing investigations. “The firm can rightly claim to be at the forefront of competition law in China, and had an experienced competition and trade specialist on the ground before many of its rivals."
• Competition Law360 named O'Melveny as one of six elite "Competition Firms of the Year" in 2009. 
• Our Washington, DC practice was chosen as Corporate Intl Magazine’s 2009/10 US Legal Awards’ “Best Law Firm in Washington DC for Antitrust Work 2009/10.”
• Legal 500 USA (2010) says that our “strong and growing reputation in the market is richly deserved as a result of a series of high-profile mandates and impressive bi-coastal coverage,” and that we have “a growing presence for litigation and merger clearance work.”
• Legal 500 EMEA (2010) states that O’Melveny’s Brussels team provides “an ability to deliver on-the-spot advice and an understanding of the commercial context.”
• IFLR 1000 (2010) recommends our European Antitrust and Competition Practice, quoting one client who makes reference to the "very bright people" at O'Melveny and commenting, "Their service is excellent and they are very knowledgeable. Nothing but praise for their competition practice." Partner Riccardo Celli is recognized by IFLR as a "leading lawyer" and partner Christian Riis-Madsen is commended by peers as "a rising star in the antitrust community."
• Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys (2010) ranks our national antitrust practice as one of the leading practices in the US.
• At the Legal Business Awards 2008, we received “Competition Team of the Year” honors for our representation of TUI AG in its acquisition of First Choice Holidays PLC, forming the leading travel group worldwide.  In addition, O’Melveny was shortlisted for “Competition Team of the Year” at the Legal Business Awards 2010 on the basis of its tremendously successful work for Advanced Micro Devices. In selecting O’Melveny, the Legal Business judges commented: “When O’Melveny took over AMD’s longstanding complaint of abuse of a dominant position against Intel, the case looked dead in the water. The input of Celli’s team led to a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the client, and ultimately finished with the European Commission levying fines worth more than €1bn against Intel.” 
• ACQ Finance Magazine awarded the Brussels team the title of “Competition Law Firm of the Year” in both 2008 and 2009.

Key Facts

Industry Reach

• Aviation

• Banking/financial services

• Consumer products

• Defense

• Energy

• Healthcare

• Information technology development and manufacturing, including hardware and software

• Manufacturing, including chemicals

• Media, entertainment, and publishing

• Pharmaceuticals

• Retailing

• Semiconductors and other computer components

• Shipping

• Telecommunications

Practice Strengths

View Practice Description