Overview
Antitrust laws and trade regulations -- whether enacted by the governments of the United States or of Puerto Rico -- can impact any business.
The experienced attorneys in McConnell Valdés’ Antitrust Enforcement & Litigation Practice group are dedicated to helping clients prevent and resolve even the most complex antitrust and trade regulation issues in Puerto Rico.
Our team includes members of our Corporate and Litigation practice areas who are ranked among Puerto Rico’s leading attorneys by Chambers and Partners in both its Global and Latin American Guides and who are included in The Best Lawyers in Puerto Rico.
They counsel clients on a broad range of antitrust and trade regulation matters and, when necessary, litigate on their behalf in all Puerto Rico trial and appeal courts, including the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
While our team litigators boast an enviable record of success in landmark cases in Puerto Rico and before the United States Supreme Court, our primary goal is to help our clients avoid costly and time-consuming litigation. To that end, we provide astute antitrust and trade compliance advice that helps our clients prevent future antitrust risk – and achieve their business goals.
What We Do
We offer significant experience in antitrust and trade regulation issues relating to:
- Mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures
- Horizontal restraints, such as industry standard-setting, agreements ancillary to joint ventures, price-fixing, boycotts, and customer and territorial allocations
- Distribution practices, price discrimination, tying arrangements, exclusive dealing, and customer and territorial restraints
- Allegations of monopolization or attempted monopolization
- The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act
Representative Clients & Matters
- In Coca Cola v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, we succeeded in limiting the government’s right to search for, seize, and use corporate documents as part of an antitrust investigation.
- We participated in litigation before the United States Supreme Court involving the enforcement of agreements to arbitrate antitrust clients.
- Prevailed on defense of PMPA claims and obtained dismissal of multi-million antitrust counterclaim seeking damages for alleged violations to the federal and local antitrust statutes, as well as breach of contract by summary judgment.
