Antitrust
Antitrust
PAST REPRESENTATION
In Laumann v. NHL, 56 F. Supp. 3d 280 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) and Garber v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball (S.D.N.Y.), the firm settled major antitrust actions against the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. In these cases, major sports leagues agreed, for the first time, to unbundle their internet sports offerings and to offer individual team streams at discounted prices. The firm also obtained a major ruling concerning the application of the baseball antitrust exemption, in which the court ruled that the exemption does not cover baseball’s territorial broadcast rules
Lawyers at the firm helped develop the law in the area of pharmaceutical antitrust litigation in such cases as Chemi SpA v. GlaxoSmithKline, 356 F. Supp. 2d 495 (E.D. Pa. 2005); Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc., 1997 WL 805261 (E.D. Pa. 1997); and King Drug Co. of Florence Inc. v. Cephalon, Inc., 702 F. Supp. 2d 514 (E.D. Pa. 2010).
Thanks to the efforts of the firm’s lawyers, an auto parts supplier won an injunction against General Motors that would have destroyed the distributor’s business in Beilowitz v. General Motors Corp., 233 F. Supp. 2d 631 (D.N.J. 2002).
CURRENT REPRESENTATION
Winters v. Ocean Spray (D. Mass) – The firm represents independent cranberry growers against Ocean Spray in an antitrust action alleging that Ocean Spray monopsonized the cranberry production market using anticompetitive methods. A trial date is pending.
National Football League v. Ninth Inning, Inc. (C.D. Cal.) – The firm represents a class of businesses and consumers in an action alleging an antitrust conspiracy between the NFL, its teams, and DirecTV to restrict access to out-of-market football games and drive prices up to access those games. The case is presently being appealed to the Supreme Court by the defendants following a landmark victory for the plaintiffs in the Ninth Circuit. See In re National Football League’s Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation, 933 F.3d 1136 (9th Cir. 2019).
Host International, Inc. v. Marketplace, PHL, LLC (E.D. Pa.) – The firm represents a business alleging that pouring rights agreements, required of vendors at the Philadelphia International Airport, are anticompetitive restraints on trade.
NEWS EVENTS AND RELATED CASE EVENTS
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Langer, Grogan & Diver partner Peter Leckman elected to the American Law Institute
Langer, Grogan & Diver partner Peter Leckman has been elected as one of 45 new members to The American Law Institute (ALI). Peter joins other Langer, Grogan & Diver lawyers who are members of the ALI including Howard Langer, John J. Grogan, and Ned Diver. Peter’s work at Langer, Grogan & Diver focuses on antitrust and consumer class actions, and appellate work.
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Law360: Langer Grogan & Diver Named as Co-Lead Counsel in NFL Broadcasting Antitrust Litigation
Law360’s Braden Campbell reports on the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell to name Langer Grogan & Diver as co-lead counsel in a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the NFL’s television broadcasting practices violate federal antitrust laws.
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Law360: $200M MLB Antitrust Deal Cutting Cost of Web Streams OK’d
Law360’s Pete Brush reports on the $200M MLB Antitrust Deal Cutting Cost of Web Streams OK’d. Manhattan U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin gave final approval Monday for an antitrust class action deal worth $200 million that drops the price Major League Baseball junkies pay to watch online, awarding $16.5 million to plaintiffs’ counsel and turning aside an objector who said the settlement gives no relief for those who have stopped watching.
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Law 360: MLB Fans Get Initial OK For TV Antitrust Settlement
Law360’s Jeff Zelesin reports that MLB Fans Get Initial OK for TV Antitrust Settlement. Major League Baseball fans who were taking the league to trial over its business model for out-of-market game broadcasts won a New York federal judge’s initial approval Friday to settle the antitrust class action in exchange for some new viewing options and discounts.
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Football Fans, Sports Bars File Antitrust Suit Challenging NFL Broadcasting Agreement
The 32 teams in the National Football League (NFL) have unlawfully agreed to eliminate competition among themselves in broadcasting NFL games, according to a class action lawsuit filed in federal court. Represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, bar owners and football fans from around the country seek an injunction to put an end to this anticompetitive arrangement and damages to compensate for the overcharges they have paid in purchasing access to live NFL broadcasts.
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Law 360: NFL Sunday Ticket Runs Afoul Of Antitrust Laws, Suit Says
The National Football League’s teams have conspired with DirecTV and television networks to inflate the cost of watching football games by selling broadcast rights collectively instead of on a team-by-team basis, sports bars and fans told a New York federal court Friday.
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Law 360: NHL Settlement Approved In Broadcast Antitrust Case
A New York federal judge on Tuesday approved a nonmonetary settlement in a class action accusing the NHL of conspiring to inflate the price of broadcast rights for games, and awarded plaintiffs’ attorneys $6.5 million in fees and expenses, reports Law 360’s Max Stendahl in NHL Settlement Approved In Broadcast Antitrust Case.
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Law 360: Apotex’s Claim Of Provigil Monopoly To Be Decided At Trial
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday refused to grant Apotex Inc. summary judgment that Cephalon Inc. had monopoly power over the market for modafinil, the active ingredient in the narcolepsy drug Provigil, saying that disputed issues exist that should be resolved at trial. Vin Gurrieri reported for Law 360 in Apotex’s Claim Of Provigil Monopoly To Be Decided At Trial.
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Langer, Grogan & Diver Garners Preliminary Settlement in National Hockey League Class Action
With the Stanley Cup Playoffs concluded, all National Hockey League fans can now get excited about viewing next season’s games, thanks especially to a proposed settlement agreement granted preliminary approval by Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin in the United States District Court.
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Law 360: MLB, NHL Viewers Press NY Judge To Certify Antitrust Class
“What we’re talking about here is a basic division of the market horizontally into exclusive territories,” Ned Diver tells Law 360 in MLB, NHL Viewers Press NY Judge To Certify Antitrust Class.