Stand & Deliver

Japanese Client with Global Operations

A Japanese company with global operations received the call you never want to get. The United States government threatened to bring criminal antitrust charges against the company for alleged price fixing and bid rigging. The government asserted that the conspiracy spanned three continents — the primary target being the United States. Our client faced more than $100 million in potential penalties.

From the start, Sullivan & Worcester made it clear to the government that our client had a very strong position, that we were planning an aggressive defense — and were preparing to go to trial. We conducted an intensive factual investigation and put our strategy in place.

Sullivan & Worcester commissioned a series of economic analyses that ultimately proved the government's theories of illegal profit were not so airtight. Armed with these complex analyses — and a firm mindset that going to court was a perfectly suitable option — we began negotiations.

After lengthy and intense sessions for over a year with government prosecutors, we settled the claim for a small fraction of the potential exposure. Perhaps more important, we settled on terms that were better than any of the many companies that were also targeted by the United States Department of Justice.