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Eileen M Cole

Partner

Washington, D.C. Office

Eileen Cole is an antitrust litigator focusing on complex antitrust matters, including global cartel investigations and pharmaceutical antitrust cases.

In 2021, Global Competition Review – Who’s Who Legal named Eileen a "Future Leader" in Competition.

Eileen represents individual and corporate clients in criminal and civil investigations before the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the FTC as well as other competition agencies globally. She counsels clients in all aspects of grand jury investigations, criminal trials and sentencing, parallel class action suits, and civil investigations of pricing conduct, and other potential antitrust violations.

Eileen’s work often includes coordination globally of parallel cartel investigations by competition agencies, including the European Commission and competition agencies in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and India. In addition to defending companies under investigation, including through trial, Eileen has also assisted companies in seeking amnesty and leniency in the United States and abroad.

Eileen also regularly represents pharmaceutical clients in complex civil antitrust class action litigations at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property. These cases involve the complexities of the FDA approval process; orange book listings; petitioning; FDA guidance, labeling, and reporting; state substitution laws; pharmaceutical pricing; formularies and rebates. Eileen has successfully challenged monopolization claims alleging ‘reverse payment” and “product hopping” schemes at the motion to dismiss, class certification, and summary judgment stages. Her work has involved claims brought by competitors as well as class allegations brought by direct and indirect purchasers.

Eileen's approach is to understand early on the complex fact scenarios at the heart of each antitrust case and prepare for trial from the outset. Eileen regularly represents her clients in federal court, including in multi-district class actions. She has great experience in trying criminal and civil antitrust cases, involving claims of monopolization and price-fixing, as well as mergers. Eileen’s extensive knowledge and experience in e-discovery is crucial when counseling clients how to navigate the ever-increasing discovery demands, new and evolving technologies, and privacy challenges for both domestic and foreign clients, while ensuring that the evidence necessary to win is at their fingertips.

Eileen works with corporate clients and individuals in a variety of industries beyond pharmaceuticals, including finance, insurance, auto parts, air cargo, ocean shipping, glass, graphite electrodes, and information technology.

In addition to litigation and defense, Eileen counsels clients on corporate governance and compliance. She advises clients in developing and implementing corporate compliance plans and conducts corporate compliance investigations.

Eileen is also passionate about pro bono work. She has worked on cases involving immigration, asylum and landlord tenant disputes.

She is a member of the New York Bar Association and the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. She also is a member of the American Bar Association and active in the Intellectual Property and Antitrust Sections. Eileen is the vice chair of the Intellectual Property and Antitrust Interfact Committee.

  • Below are examples of the types of engagements that Eileen has handled.

    Pharmaceutical Antitrust

    • Represented Warner Chilcott against claims of monopolization based on alleged “product hopping” in connection with Doryx® brought by generic firm Mylan as well as direct purchaser and indirect purchaser classes. Ultimately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Mylan’s claims, upholding the district court’s summary judgment ruling. The district court’s decision marked the first-ever victory for a defendant on a full evidentiary record in a so-called pharmaceutical “product hopping.”
    • Represented Forrest/Allergan in alleged “product hopping” claims brought by the New York Attorney General in relation to Namenda® – a drug used in the treatment of the symptoms of Alzheimer's.
    • Represented Warner Chilcott and Allergan in In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation concerning “reverse payment” challenge to patent settlement agreement and alleged “product hopping” antitrust claims.
    • Represented Warner Chilcott and Watson in In re Loestrin Antitrust Litigation concerning “reverse payment” challenges to patent settlement agreements, fraud on the PTO and alleged “product hopping” antitrust claims

    Global Cartel Investigations & Litigation

    • Represented Maruyasu, a Japanese automotive parts manufacturer in criminal case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and in U.S. civil class-actions alleging price-fixing and market allocation for automotive parts.
    • Represented individual executive in criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division of alleged price-fixing and market allocation for automotive parts. The DOJ did not charge client.
    • Represented Nexans SA in investigation of alleged cartel activity in power cables globally, including by the DOJ Antitrust Division and European Commission. The DOJ Antitrust Division closed its grand jury investigation without charging Nexans SA.
    • Represented Ian Norris, former CEO of UK-headquartered Morgan Crucible, and the first executive ever extradited to the United States by the DOJ Antitrust Division in a criminal jury trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
    • Represented an airline company owned by a foreign government before the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign competition authorities and in U.S. civil class-action proceedings related to fuel surcharges.
    • Representation of Stolt-Nielsen S.A. before the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign competition authorities and in U.S. civil class-actions, individual actions, and arbitrations related to alleged price-fixing and market allocation for parcel tanker shipping services. Successfully dismissed the indictment following a bench trial regarding the enforceability of the company’s amnesty agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
    • Represented a major Asian manufacturing company in connection with global criminal and administrative proceedings related to alleged cartel activity, including global coordination of amnesty and leniency applications to the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and global competition authorities.

    U.S. Antitrust Mergers

    • Represented a foreign paper manufacturer in a preliminary injunction hearing brought by the U.S. Department of Justice under United States antitrust laws, which sought to block the client's acquisition of a U.S. company.

    Multibillion-dollar Bank Fraud Allegations

    • Represented an international financial institution and a European defeasance entity in civil and criminal proceedings relating to multibillion-dollar bank fraud allegations.

    Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

    • Represented a corporation in a criminal investigation into Medicare and Medicaid fraud and successfully achieved a civil settlement.

    Multimillion-dollar Commercial Arbitrations

    • Represented a major telecommunications company in multimillion-dollar commercial arbitrations.