Antitrust & Competition

​Businesses face a growing challenge navigating antitrust and competition laws around the world. Effective guidance in addressing these challenges can mean the difference between capitalizing on a strategic opportunity and risking criminal liability.

Our lawyers are at the forefront of the most important issues in antitrust and competition law, including:

• Dominant firm conduct
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Multinational investigations
• Joint ventures
• International cartel investigations
• State aid
• Private damage actions
• Distribution restrictions
• Intellectual property licensing and enforcement

Our lawyers have helped shape modern antitrust law in groundbreaking decisions in the United States, Europe and Asia. In the U.S. Supreme Court, our success in the landmark decision in Continental T.V. v. GTE Sylvania (vertical non-price restraints) is widely credited with having laid the framework for modern antitrust analysis in the United States. More recently, we were counsel to Weyerhaeuser in a case that expanded the limits of predatory pricing law. Orrick was the first firm to try a private damages case in the UK. Our firm also tried the first case to be accepted by the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court under the new Chinese Antitrust Law.

Several of our lawyers have served in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as in the European Commission and national competition agencies such as the UK's Office of Fair Trading.

With the dramatic increase in cross-border antitrust and competition issues in recent years, Orrick's global reach allows us to provide clients with integrated, seamless representation. This capability has come into play in particular with coordination of international cartel investigations and cross-border M&A.

Our lawyers have been recognized for many years in numerous ranking publications and leading directories. In recent years, our Europe-based state aid practice, representing such clients as German coal producer RAG and a major international airline, has also earned a leading reputation.

​We have represented industry leaders around the world, including Areva, Baidu, Crane, DHL, General Motors, Louisiana Pacific Corp., Honda, Nova/Ineos, Microsoft, Nanya, NVIDIA, Novartis, Sony, Texas Instruments, Total, Visa and Whole Foods Market, among others.

Orrick's Antitrust and Competition practice and attorneys are recognized by the following publications and directories:

Benchmark: Litigation, 2013. Ranked and named "Antitrust Firm of the Year-West."

Global Competition Review, 2013. "Highly recommended."

JUVE Handbook (Germany), 2012. Ranked among the country's top firms, and recommended for Antitrust and State Aid.

Chambers USA (California), 2012. Chambers USA (D.C.), 2012. Chambers Europe, 2013. Chambers UK 2013.

Décideurs (France), 2013. "Excellent."

The Legal 500 (U.S.), 2012. The Legal 500 Europe, Middle East and Africa, 2012. The Legal 500 UK, 2012.

U.S. News and World Report's Best Lawyers rankings, 2012; Best Firms rankings, 2013.

Top Legal (Italy), 2011. Among the top 10 firms in Italy for Competition and EU Law.

Asian Counsel, 2010. Firm of the Year for antitrust in Japan.