NON-IP LITIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT FIRM ANALYSIS
League Tables
Antitrust
Highly recommended Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Covington & Burling Dechert Kaye Scholer Morgan Lewis & Bockius Sidley Austin Recommended Arnold & Porter Ropes & Gray Weil Gotshal & Manges White & Case
he Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is aggressively targeting anti-competitive practices in the life sciences industry and attorneys are eagerly awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc. Commonly referred to as the “Pay-for-Delay” matter, the Court is examining whether the long-running practice of branded manufacturers paying generic manufacturers to keep their product off the market is a breach of antitrust law. “This case is going to have a major impact on the life sciences industry,” states one attorney. “If this is deemed an unlawful act, there will be a lot of unrest in the industry, from both the branded and generic sides.” Attorneys all over the country have voiced their concerns over the potential outcomes of this landmark case. “Obviously, branded companies are going to be concerned with how to keep generics off the market, but there is a greater issue at stake if the FTC wins this case,” remarks one lawyer. “The FTC would have more strength than in the past and private industry would be concerned with the level of government involvement in the industry beyond what they are used to.” The possibility of more obstacles for companies in this already highly regulated industry has focused all eyes on this monumental case. Arnold & Porter The team at Arnold & Porter has a number of professionals with experience working for government agencies, providing their clients with a tremendous asset in white-collar investigations, antitrust, and product liability issues. Rivals agree that Arnold & Porter’s familiarity with the government is a reason for its success. “Their bench is one of the deepest around and the relationships their attorneys have with government entities is crucial for this industry.” Boston Scientific Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, and Genzyme have used the firm for its non-IP litigation capabilities. Partner Kirk Ogrosky handles a diverse collection of cases for clients and is considered by one peer as, “a leading white-collar litigator in life sciences.” Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Ogrosky was the former head of healthcare fraud enforcement in the Criminal Division of the US Department of Justice. He is currently representing multiple pharmaceutical manufacturers in qui tam suits and DOJ investigations related to promotional, clinical trial, agency interaction, and global anticorruption issues. The firm’s product liability group has done work for some of the industry’s largest companies. As lead counsel for Wyeth in its infamous “Fen-Phen” cases, partner Peter Grossi garnered a reputation as, “one of the best product liability attorneys in the industry’s history.” Grossi continues to do work on products liability cases and plays a major role at the firm mentoring young attorneys in the field. Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott “Clients trust them to handle litigation where millions and millions of dollars hang in the balance,” says one colleague about litigation boutique Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott. Bartlit Beck scored one of the industry’s first major product liability victories in 1997 on behalf of Alpha Therapeutics and has been one of the most successful life sciences trial firms ever since. For the last few years, the firm has been handling lead counsel duties for Merck
104
T
LMG LIFE SCIENCES 2013