William “Bill” Blechman’s practice concentrates on antitrust law, predominately on the plaintiff’s side. An experienced trial lawyer, Bill typically represents the specific client interests as plaintiffs of large public and private companies and entrepreneurs. He does not engage in plaintiff’s class actions. In addition to his plaintiff’s practice, Bill defends companies in government investigations and antitrust class actions.
Bill’s antitrust practice focuses on dominant firm conduct and conspiracies (i.e., cartels) in restraint of trade. He has represented clients in a broad array of industries, including pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, retail and wholesale grocery, electronics, airlines, railroads, shipping, construction, beverages, telecommunications and electronic payments. Over the last 15 years, he has devoted considerable time to litigating the law and economics of two-sided electronic platform markets.
Bill has participated in the civil prosecution of more than 25 domestic or international conspiracies and been lead counsel in nearly all of the firm’s cartel cases. He assists multinational corporations in formulating and implementing measured and principled strategies to maximize recoveries in these cases. His cartel practice spans the United States, Europe and Asia, and involves proceedings incident to enforcement actions by the United States Department of Justice or foreign competition authorities.
Bill has represented an individual company, or group of companies, in the following federal antitrust direct (i.e., non-class) actions that are representative of the type and range of antitrust work that he has done and continues to do:
REPRESENTATIVE INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO ANTITRUST DIRECT (i.e. NON-CLASS) ACTIONS: telecommunications; electronic payments; airlines; construction; health care; pharmaceuticals; shipping; consumer products; transportation; construction; manufacturing; currency exchanges; citric acid; rubber processing chemicals; pork; vitamins; packaged seafood; ferrosilicon; broiler chickens; monosodium glutamate; polyurethane foam; pharmaceuticals; parcel tanker freight rates; cathode ray tubes; Jones Act shipping rates; nitrile rubber; hydrogen peroxide; ethylene propylene diene monomer; nucleotides; styrene butadiene rubber; sodium perborate; graphite electrodes; polychloroprene.
REPRESENTATIVE DIRECT (i.e. NON-CLASS) ACTION ANTITRUST CASES: General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation v. Elkem Metals Co. etc. (W.D. Pa.); Unilever United States, Inc. v. Daicel Ltd. (N.D. Cal.); The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company v. Bayer AG (N.D. Oh.); Kroger Co., Safeway, Inc., etc. v. Visa USA, MasterCard International etc. (E.D.N.Y.); Spirit Airlines, Inc. v. Northwest Airlines, Inc. (E.D. Mich.); Leiner Health Products Co., NBTY Inc. etc. v. F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd., etc. (D.D.C.); Republic Engineered Steels v. SGL Carbon AG etc. (E.D. Pa.); ConAgra Foods Co., etc. v. International Paper Co., etc. (W.D. Pa.); Reckitt Benckiser Inc. v. Solvay S.A., etc. (E.D. Pa.); Hy-Vee etc. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield (N.D. Ala.); Sealy Corp, Serta, Simmons Bedding, Tempur-Pedic, La-Z-Boy etc. v. Carpenter Co. etc. (N.D. Oh.); State of Michigan ex rel. Frank Kelly v. Hoekstra Bus Co. etc. (W.D. Mich.); Ad-Vantage Telephone Directory Consultants, Inc. v. GTE Directories Corporation (M.D. Fla.); Walgreen Co., Albertson’s et al. v. American Express (S.D.N.Y.); Sears v. Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (N.D. Cal.); US Foods etc. v. Smithfield Foods etc. (D. Mn.); Kraft Heinz, UPM Kymmene, Cemex etc. v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. etc. (D.D.C.).
While antitrust work dominates his practice, Bill has a niche practice representing whistleblowers in claims brought under the Federal or a State False Claims Act. These cases place a premium on coordination with Federal and State law enforcement agencies. He has represented whistleblowers, as relators (or plaintiffs), in False Claims Act cases in the defense, health care, and education industries.Bill has taught pretrial procedure and practice at a law school, lectured and published papers on antitrust law, and taught semi