Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, LAW FIRM NEWS: Seyfarth acquires Boston antitrust and franchise group from Bingham McCutchen, (Dec 2, 2014)

Seyfarth Shaw LLP has added a group of four partners to its Litigation department in Boston. The four attorneys—William Berkowitz, John Skelton, James McGrath, and Brandon Bigelow—joined the firm from Bingham McCutchen LLP, according to a recent announcement. Berkowitz and McGrath served as co-chairs of Bingham’s Distribution and Franchise Practice Group. Berkowitz previously served as co-chair of Bingham’s global Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice group.

With nearly 90 years of combined litigation experience, the group focuses on representing manufacturers and franchisors in disputes with their dealers and franchisees, as well as counseling clients on antitrust compliance issues and antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

The group is joined by three additional lawyers from Bingham—Caleb Schillinger and Katherine Moskop in Boston and staff attorney Ardrelle Bahar, who joins Seyfarth’s Washington, D.C. office.

Berkowitz focuses his practice on antitrust, franchising, distribution, mergers and acquisitions, and other commercial litigation. He regularly consults with clients on compliance with federal and state antitrust laws, state franchise laws, the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and foreign premerger notification laws. Berkowitz is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business (B.S.) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D.).

An experienced trial lawyer, Skelton has successfully defended numerous manufacturers and franchise clients in a variety of matters, including terminations, challenges to the establishment and relocation of dealerships, and the enforcement of operating standards. He has handled complex commercial and contract disputes, franchisor-franchisee relationships, distribution and trade regulation issues, creditor rights, bankruptcy litigation, and complex product liability cases. Skelton is a graduate of Saint Anslem College (B.A.) and Western New England School of Law (J.D.) and served as law clerk to Associate Justice Neil L. Lynch of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

McGrath focuses his practice on litigation and counseling related to antitrust and trade regulation issues, franchise and distribution matters, and complex commercial litigation. In the franchise and distribution area, he represents numerous manufacturers, distributors, and trade organizations on a variety of matters, many involving the transportation industry. McGrath is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.A.) and Boston College Law School (J.D.).

Bigelow represents clients in complex commercial matters, including franchise disputes, software piracy claims, and antitrust and consumer class action litigation. He counsels clients on compliance issues involving state and federal competition laws, including regulatory review of merger and acquisition transactions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. A graduate of Cornell University (B.A.) and Boston College Law School (J.D.), Bigelow clerked for the Hon. Martha B. Sosman, Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

With more than 800 attorneys, Seyfarth Shaw LLP provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation, corporate, and real estate. It has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney, and Washington, D.C.

Attorneys: William Berkowitz, John Skelton, James McGrath, Brandon Bigelow, Caleb Schillinger, Katherine Moskop, and Ardrelle Bahar (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)

News: IndustryNewsTrends Antitrust FranchisingDistribution