Antitrust Class Certification: Trends, Updates, and What Lies Ahead

A partner in the Litigation Department, Craig Benson focuses his practice on trial work in the areas of antitrust, product liability, intellectual property and major commercial disputes. Craig’s experience has involved representing clients before federal and state courts, regulatory agencies, and arbitrators, in industries including financial services, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, electronics, automotive, chemicals, oil and gas, tobacco, and hospitality. He also has significant experience in class action defense. Craig is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Professional Development and Training Committee and a hiring partner for the Firm’s Washington office.

Craig’s pro bono practice spans the areas of political asylum and immigration, reproductive freedom, disability benefits, and civil rights for members of the LGBT community and those living with HIV. He was also part of the Paul, Weiss team that represented Edie Windsor in the historic litigation that resulted in the Supreme Court declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

Rainer Schwabe consults on a variety of antitrust and competition cases, including matters related to allegations of price fixing, exclusionary practices, and mergers and acquisitions. He has analyzed alleged anticompetitive conduct in a number of industries, including finance, food and agriculture, healthcare, telecommunications, and transportation. Dr. Schwabe has managed large teams and supported experts and clients through all stages of litigation, including data production.

Dr. Schwabe has particular expertise with antitrust issues in financial markets, both in the context of class certification and liability and damages. He has analyzed alleged anticompetitive manipulation of asset prices, closing and benchmark prices, and bid-ask spreads in both over-the-counter and exchange settings. He has assisted major financial institutions in extracting, analyzing, and producing large transaction-level datasets.

Dr. Schwabe also has experience with matters at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property. He has assisted experts in assessing the effect of proposed mergers on innovation, and in evaluating the competitive effects of licensing practices for standard essential patents.

Dr. Schwabe has published his research in leading academic journals, including the American Economic Review. His article, “Competition and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Mexico,” published in 2019, was named Best Paper by a Junior Author for 2020 in the Review of Industrial Organization. Prior to joining Cornerstone Research, he served at the Mexican Central Bank, where he analyzed competition in retail financial services and financial regulation.

Michael Kheyfets is a professional economist who provides his clients with economic research and rigorous data analysis in litigation, regulatory, and business analytics matters.

Mr. Kheyfets advises clients on a broad range of antitrust and competition matters, including ones involving allegations of price-fixing, monopolization, market allocation, and bid rigging. He has served in expert roles in antitrust litigation matters involving a variety of industries, including (among others) building materials, consumer goods, mobile phones, electronic components, auto parts, and pharmaceuticals. Mr. Kheyfets specializes in all phases of these matters, from managing the data discovery process to developing testimony on issues of class certification, liability, and damages.

In addition to his antitrust practice, Mr. Kheyfets co-heads Edgeworth’s Privacy & Data Security Practice. Across his practice, Mr. Kheyfets applies his technical training to develop large datasets, employ sophisticated statistical modeling, and analyze complex economic issues.