Howard Langer, a founding partner of the firm, has specialized in complex commercial litigation, particularly antitrust law, since graduating the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1977. He was lead counsel in In re Linerboard Antitrust Litigation, which resulted in what was then the largest antitrust recovery ever in the Third Circuit. He was lead counsel in two class actions that recovered over $150 million and $37.5 million respectively, the full sums wrongfully taken from the victims’ accounts of telemarketing frauds. Faloney v. Wachovia Bank and Reyes v. Netdeposit, LLC. In 2016, he shared the award of the American Antitrust Institute for Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice for his work in two cases involving the broadcasting of major sports leagues. He is presently co-lead counsel in In re Nat’l Football League’s Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litig., No. 17-56119, 2019 WL 3788253 (9th Cir. Aug. 13, 2019), which sustained the plaintiffs’ challenge to the National Football League’s broadcast policies. In 2019, Howard received the William J. Brennan, Jr. award of the Volunteers for the Indigent Program of the Philadelphia Bar Association for his extensive work on behalf of the underprivileged.

Howard is Professor of Law (Adjunct, 2004-2021) at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he teaches antitrust law. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo Law School and a visiting fellow at the Centre for Competition Law and Policy at Oxford. A fourth edition of his treatise, Competition Law in the United States, was published in 2019 by Wolters Kluwer. Howard graduated from the City College of New York, magna cum laude, and holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto.

Best Lawyers 2021 ranks Howard as the leading antitrust lawyer in Philadelphia. Chambers & Partners USA Guide has written: “‘Terrific’ Howard Langer, ‘does a spectacular job for his client,’ acknowledge his peers. They attribute his success to his “clear thinking, knowledge of the law and understanding of economic theory.” In Cullen v. Whitman Medical Corp., 197 F.R.D. 136, 149 (E.D. Pa. 2002), Judge Anita Brody wrote, of Howard: “‘if there’s anyone who is … going to be able to do that, you will be able to do it … you go after it and you don’t let it go….’” At the conclusion of Linerboard, Judge Jan DuBois spoke of the quality of the lawyering: “I’m going to end on this note, that when the President of the United States called me and said he was going to nominate me to this position I never dreamed it would be quite as good as it has been in this case.” Trans. March 24, 2006 at 86.

Representative Cases Include:

In re Nat’l Football League’s Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litig., No. 17-56119, 2019 WL 3788253 (9th Cir. Aug. 13, 2019) which reversed a dismissal of plaintiffs’ claim that the National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” marketed with DirecTV violated the Sherman Act.

Reyes v. Netdeposit, LLC, 802 F. 3d 469 (3d Cir. 2015) definitively established the propriety of the consumer class action under the Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act. After the Third Circuit reversed denial of class certification in this case, the case settled for $37.5 million, the full damages inflicted on the class. Over 300,000 class members were sent their recoveries without the need to file claims.

Faloney v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., 254 F.R.D. 204 (E.D. Pa. 2008) a class action, brought under the RICO Act, alleged that a major national bank abetted over one hundred fraudulent telemarketing schemes. The bank was required to mail checks totaling over $150 million to over 500,000 persons representing a full recovery of all funds that had been taken from the victims’ accounts. It represents the largest consumer recovery ever within the Third Circuit.

In re Linerboard Antitrust Litig., 305 F.3d 145 (3d Cir. 2002) alleged a national conspiracy by manufacturers of corrugated boxes to restrict output and raise prices. After Howard argued a landmark appeal affirming the district court’s certification of a national class of box purchasers, the case settled for over $200 million which was, at the time, among the largest antitrust recoveries and was for many years the largest such recovery in the Third Circuit.

Laumann v. National Hockey League, No. 12-1817 (S.D.N.Y. 2015) and Garber v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, No. 12-3704 (S.D.N.Y. 2015), in which, after hard-fought litigation, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball settled antitrust allegations related to the leagues’ division of broadcast markets to protect home teams from competition in their geographic territory. The settlements significantly reduced prices to millions of consumers and have been valued at more than $200 million.

Beilowitz v. General Motors Corp., 233 F. Supp. 2d 631 (D.N.J. 2002), in which the court entered a preliminary injunction enjoining implementation of a new national parts distribution plan by General Motors, remains among the leading cases under the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act.

Amarel v. Connell, 102 F.3d 1494 (9th Cir. 1996); In re Linerboard; and Chemi SpA v. GlaxoSmithKline, 356 F. Supp. 2d 495 (E.D. Pa. 2005) together, established basic principles of the law of standing under federal antitrust law. In each, Howard’s clients stood in unusual relationships with defendants, and in each case, Howard successfully argued the propriety of the plaintiff’s suit.

Public Interest

Howard founded the firm with John Grogan with a goal of providing access to justice to those who would not otherwise have that access. The firm’s work in the public interest has been frequently recognized. In 2006, each of its named partners received the Equal Justice Award of Community Legal Services. Howard also was instrumental in establishing the Langer Grogan & Diver Fund for Social Justice and the Langer Grogan & Diver Social Justice Fellowship at the Law School of University of Pennsylvania.

Howard is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Interest Law Center, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Philadelphia. Howard also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Magee Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.

Howard has had a particular interest in the rights of guest workers. He successfully defended, pro bono, leading human rights organizations in a defamation suit brought by an alleged major human trafficker, ultimately winning thousands of dollars in sanctions. Orian v. Federation Intern. des Droits de L’Homme, 2012 WL 994643 (C.D.Cal. 2012).

Publications/Presentations

• Competition Law of The United States, Wolters Kluwer (4th Ed. 2019)

Awards/Memberships

• Justice William J. Brennan Award for Pro Bono Service, Philadelphia Bar Association 2019
• Equal Justice Award, Community Legal Service 2006
• Social Justice Award, Jewish Social Policy Network 2011
• American Law Institute
• American Inns of Court
• Best Lawyers in America
• Chambers Guide