Antitrust Law

Fighting back when powerful corporations break the rules.

Our firm has a long and successful history representing plaintiffs in major antitrust litigation across a wide range of industries—from pharmaceuticals to high tech, and from healthcare to consumer goods. We have served in key leadership roles in dozens of groundbreaking antitrust cases, delivering significant financial recoveries and structural reforms.

We represent individuals, small businesses, hospitals, and public institutions that have suffered due to unlawful practices such as price-fixing, market allocation, group boycotts, and monopolization. Our clients trust us not only because of our courtroom success, but because we deeply understand the industries we litigate against—and we don’t back down from taking on corporate giants.

Some of the issues navigated by our antitrust and anti-competition attorneys include the following:

• Price-Fixing: Price-fixing is an agreement among competitors to raise or maintain prices. Price-fixing lawsuits may involve agreements to raise the prices of goods or services, but may also involve agreements between companies to change the terms of warranties, discount programs, shipping fees or financing rates.   Absent direct evidence of collusion, price-fixing lawsuits often involve circumstantial evidence, such as a pattern of unexplained, identical price increases or a change in contract terms without a legitimate business reason for doing so.
• Bid-Rigging: Coordination among bidders undermines the fairness of the bidding process and is illegal. Through bid-rigging, competitors conspire to effectively raise prices in situations where purchasers (often federal, state or local governments) attempt to acquire goods or services by soliciting competing bids. One of the most common types of bid-rigging schemes is complementary bidding, where some competitors agree to submit bids that are either too high to be accepted or contain terms that will not be accepted by the buyer. These bids are not intended to win the auction, but rather are designed to give the appearance of competitive bidding to make the winning bid seem fair and reasonable to the public. Bid-rigging arrangements may also involve subcontracting part of the main contract to the losing bidders or forming a joint venture to submit a single bid.
• Market Division or Customer Allocation: Market division or customer allocation schemes are agreements by competitors on how to divide markets among themselves. Market division antitrust lawsuits often involve competing firms allocating specific customers, products or territories among themselves.
• Monopolization: Antitrust laws are created to prevent businesses from creating monopolies that eliminate market competition for a particular product or service. Monopolization occurs when one company deliberately destroys its rivals to obtain “monopoly power” over a particular good or service. A company has obtained monopoly power if it has the ability to raise prices or reduce supply without fear that a rival can charge lower prices for a substitute good or service. Our antitrust attorneys represent businesses and individuals who have suffered financial harm because of illegal monopolies.
• Mergers and Acquisitions: Antitrust law prohibits mergers and acquisitions that substantially decrease competition or create monopolies for certain goods or services. When a merger or acquisition creates a monolithic company that takes over a large share of the market, our antitrust attorneys can challenge the plan by issuing an antitrust lawsuit.

If you or your business has been impacted by antitrust actions or unfair business practices, don’t settle for simply getting by—go all in and launch your cause. Pursue justice with the confidence that comes from knowing an experienced antitrust advocate is on your side, fighting to secure the outcome you desire.  Our firm’s attorneys will review your case for free to determine whether you have a viable claim. In some cases, a class action case may have already been filed, but your financial interests may be best served by the filing of your own case against the offending parties.

A Proven Track Record

Our antitrust team includes nationally recognized litigators who have helped shape antitrust law across the country. We have gone toe-to-toe with some of the largest corporations in the world and won. Here are a few examples of our past victories:

• In re PRK/Lasik, Laser Surgery Overcharges Litigation – We served as Court-appointed Liaison Counsel in a nationwide class action against VISX, Inc. and Summit, Inc., securing a $12.5 million settlement for consumers subjected to inflated laser eye surgery prices.
• Flat Glass Antitrust Litigation – Acting as Plaintiffs’ Counsel and a member of the Court-appointed Discovery Committee, we helped obtain a $60 million recovery for purchasers harmed by collusive pricing among flat glass manufacturers.
• Toys “R” Us Antitrust Litigation – Our firm filed a national class action challenging anticompetitive agreements in the toy industry, achieving a settlement exceeding $50 million for affected consumers.
• Pharmaceutical Antitrust Litigation (JCCP 2969) – We helped secure a landmark settlement in which pharmaceutical companies provided $150 million in free medications to 200 California hospitals and clinics.
• In re Vitamin Antitrust Litigation – William M. Audet was appointed as lead counsel or Executive Committee member in multiple states in this multibillion-dollar litigation against vitamin manufacturers for price-fixing, resulting in substantial multi-state settlements.
• In re Copper Tubing Antitrust Litigation – As class counsel, we helped achieve a $325 million total recovery for plaintiffs impacted by illegal market manipulation in the copper tubing industry.

We have also litigated major class actions involving price-fixing in the DRAM, carbon fiber, methionine, and bromine markets, as well as monopolistic practices in mobile gaming, e-books, and generic pharmaceuticals.

What is an Antitrust Lawsuit?

An antitrust lawsuit is brought to court when a company or individual has been accused of engaging in anti-competitive behavior, such as price fixing or monopolization. These types of cases are complicated and require the expertise of experienced antitrust lawyers and advocates.  

Antitrust lawyers will help advise you through the entire process, from filing the initial complaint to negotiating settlements and even taking the case to trial. They will ensure your rights are protected throughout the process, and you receive a fair outcome.

What is Antitrust Litigation?

Antitrust litigation is a type of legal action taken when an individual or business believes their competition has engaged in unfair practices. These practices are usually related to pricing and the use of market power, often resulting in less choice and higher prices for consumers. 

Antitrust litigation stops the practices that constrict trade and harm the free market. If successful, you can receive a substantial settlement for your sustained damages. In the United States, antitrust law seeks to protect consumers from such illegal behavior by preventing businesses from engaging in activities that reduce competition and prevent new entrants from entering the market.

Whether you have fallen victim to price fixing, monopolization, or other types of fraud, an antitrust attorney will use our time and resources to give you the justice you deserve.

Antitrust lawyers and advocates fight these cases to keep the market open, fair, and competitive for all. Litigation can be incredibly complex and expensive, so it is important to retain experienced legal counsel when bringing an antitrust case. 

If you’re seeking justice related to antitrust actions or unfair business practices, Audet & Partners will work tirelessly in your defense.

Current and Notable Cases

• Beverage et al. v. Apple Inc. – We represent consumers of Fortnite who were impacted by Apple’s allegedly anticompetitive control of the App Store and In-App Purchases. This case targets Apple’s efforts to dominate mobile gaming transactions and restrict competition.
• In re DRAM Antitrust Litigation – Serving as class counsel in a massive effort to recover damages for consumers overcharged due to coordinated pricing in the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) market.