EXPERIENCED, HIGHLY QUALIFIED ANTITRUST AND BUSINESS LITIGATORS

We try cases and conduct appeals only in our core practice areas

If We Accept an Engagement, It Will Receive Our Undivided Attention

We are a law firm of highly regarded trial and appellate attorneys located in San Diego, California.

William Markham is a graduate of Harvard Law School who has litigated, tried, and appealed cases in state and federal courts for thirty-five years. He began his career as an antitrust litigator in a leading global law firm and established his own practice in 1990. His core practice areas are antitrust law, business litigation, and certain kinds of real-estate litigation.

Dorn Bishop, who is “of counsel” to the firm, is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, a former partner in Latham & Watkins, and a former federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. His core practice areas are insurance law, white-collar defense, and business litigation.

We conduct trials and appeals as well as provide strategic and ongoing advice only in our core areas of expertise. We accept only a few matters at a time to ensure that we can devote sufficient, undivided attention to each one. For matters that we cannot accept, we can usually recommend other attorneys who in our estimation are excellent practitioners.

Learn About Our Law Firm

Successful Antitrust Matters

Public Antitrust Settlements: Recovery of $40 Million

In 2016, we were the first to bring an antitrust class-action against the world’s largest retailer of contact lenses. We alleged that it used sham litigation and restrictive settlement agreements to allocate markets and restrain trade. Our case and others that followed led to a total recovery of $40 million.
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Antitrust Counsel to World’s Largest Producer of LED Devices

We served as the antitrust advisor to the world’s largest manufacturer of LED products during its master contract negotiations with a world-famous, major producer of electronic devices. In this capacity, we identified and successfully resolved all antitrust concerns raised during these negotiations.
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Successful Settlement after Published Decision

We concluded a favorable, confidential settlement for a major, publicly-traded retailer after obtaining a highly favorable published decision that vindicated our federal claims for restraint of trade and false advertising against the largest retailer of hardware in the United States.
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Obtained Antitrust Amnesty for Criminal Price-Fixing

We obtained comprehensive antitrust amnesty for our client for its alleged role in a price-fixing conspiracy in the marine-fender industry. The other alleged conspirators subsequently paid substantial criminal fines and civil damages, but our client paid nothing and owed no liability, criminal or civil.
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Antitust Litigation Results in Curtailed Practices

On behalf of a major manufacturer, we asserted nationally significant antitrust claims for restraint of trade and monopolization against AT&T and the U.S. subsidiary of the world’s largest construction materials company, which shortly after our filing curtailed one of its challenged practices.
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Reversal on Appeal of Dismissal of Antitrust Case

In an antitrust case, we persuaded the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal district court’s dismissal of our client’s most important claim. This appeal depended on the proper meaning and application of the doctrine of antitrust injury. The case thereafter settled on confidential terms.
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Successful Settlement of California Antitrust Claims

We persuaded a California Superior Court to treat resale price maintenance as a per se violation of California’s Cartwright Act after the federal courts had ceased to do so. We also raised related challenges to the defendants’ restrictive covenants. The case thereafter settled on favorable, confidential terms.
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Complete Defense In Antitrust Criminal Matter

We successfully defended a manufacturer of polypropylene products against potential criminal charges of price-fixing and horizontal market allocation. These charges were thoroughly investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice after it initially treated our client as a “target” of its investigation.
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Resolution of Standards-Setting Matter

On behalf of a major manufacturer, we took the lead role and collaborated with a national trade association to persuade a prominent national standards-setting agency, the American Society for Testing and Materials, to revise two of its industry standards for core construction materials.
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Successful Settlements of Tying Claims

Early in his career, Mr. Markham worked as an associate in the antitrust practice of a major international law firm. During this period, he principally litigated antitrust claims and cross-claims that alleged unlawful tying arrangements in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.
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Large Settlements

$10.4 Million: Settlement in Complex Real Estate Dispute

By a pre-trial settlement agreement, we recovered approximately $10.4 million for trust beneficiaries whose trustees had made complex, improper transfers of agricultural lands.
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$3.1 Million: Settlement of Eminent Domain Litigation

In a complex, novel eminent domain proceeding, which received first-page coverage in The New York Times, we successfully represented the owner of a locally famous shopping center.
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$4.4 Million: Settlement of Eminent Domain Litigation

In a complex eminent domain proceeding, we represented a large polypropylene factory located in Alameda County after the Oakland Unified School District condemned its plant and lands.
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$2.2 Million: Settlement of an Employer’s Breach of Contract

On behalf of a prominent sales executive of a Fortune 500 company, we successfully litigated federal claims against its disability insurer to oblige it to honor its insurance obligations.
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Our Antitrust Experience

Federal antitrust laws apply to most businesses and lines of commerce in the United States, but there are some notable exemptions and immunities, such as “the business of baseball,” the “business of insurance,” and labor-union activity.

In any case that we accept, we make it our business to learn all about our client’s business and industry. We already have specific experience litigating antitrust disputes and providing antitrust counsel in the following industries:

Automobile dealerships
Automobile manufacturing
Automobile parts
Computer hardware and software
Foreclosure auctions
Healthcare staffing
Hospitals and healthcare services
Information technology
Infrastructure projects
LED products

Logistics and supply chains
Medical devices
Online platforms and e-commerce
Petrochemical products
Pharmaceuticals
Property development
Retail sales
Telecommunications services
Utilities installations
Wholesale distribution

Past Clients

READ MR. MARKHAM’S ARTICLES ON ANTITRUST LAW

AN OVERVIEW OF ANTITRUST LAW (By William Markham, © 2000)

“Antitrust law is the law of competition and is perhaps the least understood law of all. This article provides an overview and explanation of the essential principles of antitrust law.”
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ANTITRUST EXEMPTIONS AND IMMUNITIES (By William Markham, © 2022)

“Over the years, Congress and the federal courts have established various immunities from federal antitrust law, removing from its reach specified commercial activities and even entire lines of commerce.”
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HOW THE CONSUMER-WELFARE STANDARD TRANSFORMED CLASSICAL ANTITRUST LAW (William Markham, © 2021)

“Since the late 1970s, antitrust law in the United States has been transformed out of recognition and rendered largely toothless by consumer-welfare jurisprudence….,”
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READ MR. MARKHAM’S ARTICLES ON TRIAL PROCEDURE AND CONTRACT LAW

MAKING SENSE OF THE RULES OF EVIDENCE AND PRESENTING YOUR EVIDENCE AT TRIAL (By William Markham, 2011)

“I try in this article simply to set forth a list of simple rules to explain the key points of the law of evidence. I also offer several pointers on organizing evidence in order to present it competently at trial.”
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“This article is written for non-lawyers, young litigators, and non-litigator attorneys who wish to understand how a lawsuit works in practice from start to finish.”
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AN OVERVIEW OF CONTRACT LAW (By William Markham, 2002)

“Contract law lies at the heart of our system of laws and serves as the foundation of our entire society…. Our society depends upon free exchange in the marketplace at every level. Contract law makes this possible.”
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William A. Markham

Rated by Super Lawyers

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Experienced, highly qualified trial and appellate attorneys

We are a law firm of highly regarded trial and appellate attorneys located in San Diego, California. Our two lead attorneys, William Markham and Dorn Bishop, are graduates of the nation’s leading law schools (Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School) and alumni of leading global law firms. Both have tried and appealed many cases, and both prepare every case on the assumption that it might be necessary to try the case and litigate ensuing appeals.

We conduct trials and appeals and offer strategic and ongoing advice only in our core areas of expertise — antitrust law, complex business litigation, insurance law, and certain kinds of complex real estate litigation. We accept only a few matters at a time to ensure that we can devote sufficient, undivided attention to each engagement that we accept.

Meet The Team