Farmer Brownstein Jaeger LLP

The veteran attorneys at Farmer Brownstein Jaeger LLP are immersed in the sometimes shadowy world of cartel antitrust litigation.

But the skills of each partner -- William "Buck" Farmer, David Brownstein, Charles "Chuck" Jaeger and Jacob Alpren -- complement the others' when they defend those accused of illegally fixing prices, manipulating production, bribing buyers or otherwise trying to control market share.

With Farmer's experience on the criminal side, Brownstein and Jaeger's civil proficiency, and Alpren's fluency in Mandarin and familiarity with litigation in China and Taiwan, the members say the firm encompasses all aspects of defending against allegations of antitrust violations.

"Since so many antitrust matters in the last 15 years are cartel matters, which means civil and criminal, I'd like to think when we get hired by a company, our ability to see what civil and criminal issues are coming, both in the U.S. and internationally, is valuable," Farmer said.

Farmer was a prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly 20 years, including time as assistant chief of the Antitrust Division Office in San Francisco, before becoming part of Collete, Erickson, Farmer & O'Neill LLP in 1989. Brownstein and Jaeger were longtime civil litigators at Heller Ehrman LLP. Farmer asked Alpren, who was with Collete, to come on board.

Although founded only in 2012, the firm has represented about 50 companies or their executives. About two-thirds of the firm's business has focused on antitrust, in industries as varied as liquid crystal displays, international shipping, auto parts and currency trading. The other third covers securities litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and corporate and partnership governance.

Attorneys from other firms defending companies in antitrust cases turn to Farmer Brownstein Jaeger to represent company executives whose separate issues create conflicts with their company.

In such a situation, said Gary Spratling, a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Farmer Brownstein Jaeger is his go-to firm.

"They are very deep in expertise," Spratling said. "They've seen it all. They can handle anything in antitrust defense at the top tier of representation.

"It's such a luxury to be able to refer an executive for a firm that you're representing that you know they're going to get the best representation possible."

James V. Dick, senior counsel in Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP's office in Washington, D.C., agreed that decades of experience is key to the Farmer firm's success.

"Buck has a lot of trial experience, which is actually uncommon among antitrust lawyers," he said. "Big cartel or conspiracy cases don't go to trial very often."

"I have had occasion to refer matters to Buck's firm and been very happy, and our clients, more important, have been happy with the service of his firm," said Mark Leddy, senior counsel at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in Washington.

In recent years, Farmer said, his firm is proudest of two things: specifically, a case in which it won a motion for summary judgment for its client in June; and, generally, its high success rate in exonerating accused executives.

In the summary judgment, the firm represented Los Gatos Tomato Products, one of several tomato producers sued on allegations of bribery and price-fixing. Morning Star Packing Co. v. SK Foods, L.P., 09-CV-00208 (E.D. Cal., filed Jan. 22, 2009). Farmer and Jaeger argued that Los Gatos had not violated either the Sherman Act or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller agreed. "Drawing all inferences in favor of Morning Star," she wrote, "no reasonable juror could conclude this evidence illustrates Los Gatos's conscious commitment to a common bribery scheme, or a meeting of the minds to commit bribery."

Of the 30 executives the firm has represented over the past few years, Farmer said only two served any jail time.

-- James Getz