Antitrust policy promotes competition and innovation for the benefit of consumers. Though the concept is simple, the underlying economic analysis in antitrust and competition matters is often complex. Brattle offers a unique approach to tackling the challenges posed by these cases.
Our approach has three elements:
- Direct and immediate access for clients to the entire project team without unnecessary layers of management impeding communication;
- Expert economists that are closely engaged and accessible throughout the project to drive the economic theory and reasoning behind analyses; and
- Efficiently organized and dedicated teams that maximize project knowledge and depth.
We have employed this approach on some of the largest and most high-profile antitrust cases. We work with first-rate testifying experts including two Nobel laureates, economics professors at leading universities, and former high-ranking economists at government competition agencies. We have advised clients in hundreds of transactions and provided testimony and litigation support in antitrust and competition cases on behalf of leading law firms as well as U.S., Canadian, and international government agencies.
Published in the American Bar Association's Antitrust Law Section Antitrust magazine
Brattle’s client Superior Plus recently received clearance from Canada’s Competition Bureau to acquire Gibson Energy’s propane distribution business, Canwest, making the post-merger business the largest propane distributor in Canada.
Brattle was retained by counsel for the Plaintiffs to provide expert testimony on liability, damages, and profitability.
In a recent article for Concurrences, Brattle Principal Pinar Bagci analyzes and critiques various damages estimation methods used in the first cartel overcharge claim brought in the UK High Court of Justice, BritNed Development Limited v. ABB AB and ABB Ltd.
Below is a list of representative engagements for our Antitrust/Competition practice.
Brattle has been involved in numerous high-profile antitrust matters in the payment card industry, involving interchange fees, nondiscrimination rules, foreign transaction fees, dynamic currency conversion, and other practices. We have analyzed efficiency benefits and competitive effects resulting from these practices, developed models to identify the underlying conditions required for either anticompetitive or procompetitive behavior, assessed market performance (including firm profitability), provided statistical analyses relevant to defining relevant product markets, and evaluated alleged damages. Brattle economists recently supported American Express in its successful defense against antitrust claims made by the U.S. Department of Justice and others involving its merchant agreements.
Economists at The Brattle Group assisted US Airways in its monopolization case against Sabre. The lawsuit pertained to alleged anticompetitive provisions in a contract between the two parties over the distribution of airline tickets. Brattle experts and Nobel Laureates Professors Joseph Stiglitz and Dan McFadden, provided expert witness testimony on liability and damages issues. Our work included an analysis of Sabre’s market power in the distribution of airline tickets and how the challenged contract provisions harmed both the airline and consumers. Most notably, we provided insight into the role of “two sidedness” in thinking about this market. In addition, our team analyzed millions of bookings on US Airways flights to assess the overcharges resulting from the challenged restrictions, based on the analysis of “but-for” prices. The 8-week trial in federal court ended in December 2016, and the jury ruled in favor of US Airways. In September 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit remanded the case for retrial.
Brattle economists, including Professor Daniel McFadden, have been retained by plaintiffs to assess the effects of market allocation and ownership restrictions for a particular line of insurance in the United States. A consortium of insurers covers a significant fraction of U.S. consumers who receive private insurance in the United States. The member insurers, through their association, license their trademark by requiring members to sell insurance only in their exclusive service areas (ESAs). In this case, currently before the Federal Court, plaintiffs allege that because this arrangement prevents entry by one member of the consortium into the territory of another, it has stifled competition and as a result increased premiums paid by consumers.
On behalf of the National Hockey League (NHL), Brattle Principal and Nobel Laureate Daniel McFadden provided testimony at a Daubert and class-certification hearing concerning the structural econometric model proffered by the Plaintiffs’ expert to estimate damages arising from restraints imposed on the broadcast rights to the league games. The Court granted the defense’s Daubert motion in part, in a decision that frequently refers to the testimony of Professor McFadden.
Brattle assisted a global investment bank in connection with an EC investigation of alleged collusion to manipulate foreign exchange benchmarks during 2008-2012. We provided guidance on the appropriate basis for calculation of fines.
Brattle assisted counsel for Agrium in the competitive effects and efficiencies analysis in connection with the $36 billion merger of equals between fertilizer producers Potash Corporation and Agrium Inc. The merger obtained regulatory clearance across multiple jurisdictions globally, with minimal divestiture requirements, forming the world’s largest crop nutrient company.