Source: https://www.martindale.com/washington/district-of-columbia/steven-f-benz-348437-a/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 10:45:01+00:00

Document:
Steven Benz represents corporations as plaintiffs in antitrust, unfair competition, class action, and complex commercial cases in federal and state courts in the United States and in matters relating to the abuse of dominance and cartels in the European Union. He has more than twenty-five years of litigation experience and has served as counsel of record in more than 140 litigated cases, trials, and appeals. Mr. Benz is a frequent speaker at conferences on competition law and complex civil litigation topics. In 2017 he was honored with the “ Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice ” award by the American Antitrust Institute.
As a partner at the firm, Mr. Benz has prosecuted leading-edge cases involving in part the intersection of competition law and intellectual property rights, including monopolization, price fixing, and class actions under federal and state law; direct and indirect purchaser claims under state antitrust and unfair competition laws; and breach of contract, fraudulent transfer and deceptive trade practices litigation.
Mr. Benz represents Veeva Systems Inc. in antitrust claims against IQVIA Inc. and IMS Software Services Ltd. (IQVIA) in IQVIA Inc. and IMS Software Services Ltd. v. Veeva Systems Inc., No. 17-cv-00177 (D.N.J.). Veeva is alleging that IQVIA is abusing its monopoly power as the dominant provider of data products for life sciences companies to suppress competition and prevent life sciences companies from using Veeva’s competing data and software products.
Mr. Benz is co-lead counsel and represents the Dial Corporation, Henkel Consumer Goods, Inc., Kraft Heinz Foods Company, H.J. Heinz Company, L.P., Foster Poultry Farms, Smithfield Foods, Inc., HP Hood, LLC, and BEF Foods, Inc. in The Dial Corporation, et al. v. News Corporation, et al., Civ. Action No. 13-CV-06802 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y) (Judge Pauley), a Sherman Act monopolization case involving third-party in-store promotions. In 2016, on the first day of trial, Mr. Benz secured a settlement of $250 million and significant injunctive relief for his clients and the certified class of 699 CPG (consumer product goods) companies.
•a corporate client and the certified direct purchaser class in MDL No. 1917, In Re: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 3:07-cv-05944-JST (N.D. Cal.) (Judge Tigar).
District of Columbia Bar; American Bar Association (Member, Antitrust and Litigation Sections).
Noteworthy Representations: In 2012, Mr. Benz achieved a significant ruling from the Federal Circuit in Ritz Camera & Image, LLC v. SanDisk Corporation, 700 F.3d 503 (Fed. Cir. 2012). The Federal Circuit held that direct purchasers have standing to pursue Walker Process (fraud on the Patent and Trademark Office) antitrust claims. Supporting amicus briefs were submitted by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, more than thirty state Attorneys General, and more than thirty law professors.; Mr. Benz and his partners were retained by AT&T Inc. to serve as lead trial counsel in the Department of Justice lawsuit to enjoin the merger of AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA, Inc., United States of America v. AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA, Inc., and Deutsche Telekom AG, Civil No. 11-01560 (ESH) (D.D.C.).; Mr. Benz was one of the lead attorneys in Conwood Co. v. United States Tobacco Co., 290 F.3d 768 (6th Cir. 2002), in which the firm won the largest Sherman Act 2 damages award in history for our client. A jury awarded a judgment (after trebling) of $1.05 billion. This verdict was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit in 2002. Id.; Mr. Benz was one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs in Coordination Proceedings Special Title (Rule 1550(b)) Microsoft I - V Cases, J.C.C.P. No. 4106 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Fran.). He investigated, drafted and filed the complaint in Lingo et al. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 301357 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Fran.), which became the lead case against Microsoft in California after consolidation, on February 18, 1999. On January 10, 2003, plaintiffs' counsel and the class representatives reached an agreement with Microsoft on a settlement, which provided $1.1 billion in monetary benefits to California consumers and municipalities. This settlement is the largest recovery of a monopoly overcharge ever achieved in the United States and the largest recovery ever achieved under California's Cartwright Act or California's Unfair Competition Act.

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