Epstein Becker Green has been supplying clients in the health care and life sciences, financial services, manufacturing, and transportation industries, among others, with innovative antitrust counseling and litigation services for more than four decades.
Using its strategic vision and working knowledge of antitrust compliance and enforcement processes, the Antitrust Group at Epstein Becker Green assists clients in developing compliance strategies and minimizing antitrust exposure, including defending mergers and acquisitions, business relationships and policies, and other aspects of the clients’ operations.
At Epstein Becker Green, we understand that the application of antitrust laws to health care and other heavily regulated institutions often involves issues unique to their industry that are difficult to appreciate without broad industry knowledge. Accordingly, members of the Antitrust Group have in-depth knowledge of all aspects of their clients’ industries.
With regard to the health care and life sciences industry, the Antitrust Group’s services are regularly utilized by hospitals, hospital systems, physicians, multi-specialty medical groups, insurance companies, managed care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and many national associations and alliances of health care providers. Additionally, members of the Antitrust Group:
- Have extensive experience representing health care clients in antitrust matters before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and state antitrust enforcement authorities (in fact, Epstein Becker Green obtained the country’s first antitrust business clearance in a matter involving joint planning by hospitals in Virginia in 1977)
- Previously served with federal and state antitrust enforcement agencies, handling both merger and non-merger antitrust actions in the health care field
- Are authors of texts on antitrust law and provide antitrust advice to federal regulatory agencies and committees of Congress
- Submit amicus curiae briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States and federal appellate courts
Our Services
By coupling extensive experience in antitrust matters with a strong background in our clients’ industries, the Antitrust Group at Epstein Becker Green is able to provide clients with comprehensive antitrust counseling and defense services. Specifically, these services include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Developing compliance plans and programs to ensure that business practices and operations conform to applicable federal and state laws and regulations
- Performing antitrust compliance audits of existing contracts, strategic partnerships, and financial relationships, and conducting internal investigations
- Advising clients on antitrust compliance issues involved with mergers and acquisitions, expansions, joint ventures, collaborations, and other transactions
- Providing merger analysis and litigation risk assessments
- Counseling clients on distribution arrangements, standards issues, and joint purchasing arrangements
- Assisting with antitrust training programs
- Representing clients in civil and criminal antitrust and consumer law matters
- Representing clients in investigations and/or litigation by the FTC, DOJ, and other federal or state enforcement agencies or private parties concerning Sherman Act, Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and other federal and state antitrust law violations; price fixing, predatory pricing, and unfair competition claims; contested mergers and acquisitions; disputes over exclusive contracts and distribution arrangements; monopolization claims; and restraint-of-trade allegations
For clients in the health care and life sciences industry, we also do the following:
- Gain merger clearance for hospitals
- Assess antitrust issues related to the formation and operation of joint ventures to allow health care providers to engage in innovative payment methodologies
- Develop strategies to enable health care providers to share data as part of quality improvement processes
- Provide antitrust compliance guidance for accountable care organizations and other alternative payment structures
- Counsel pharmaceutical clients on customer pricing strategies and arrangements