Aaron Sheanin

Sheanin says he "fell into" antitrust law in a big way: In 2000, he received a case file in connection with the California energy crisis.

"These power markets were manipulated and we filed an action on that," said Sheanin, a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP who is based in Mountain View.

"I discovered that this type of case was fascinating and the law around it was fascinating," the Columbia Law School graduate said. "It wasn't what I had necessarily expected to do, but the more I did, the more I enjoyed it."

Sheanin said antitrust has its share of challenges -- from understanding the structure of a market, piecing together anticompetitive conduct, and being able to support economic analysis that demonstrates harm to a plaintiff.

Sheanin served as co-lead counsel in a class action in which 2 million people who took out automobile loans claimed Wells Fargo & Company billed them for charges they didn't actually owe.

Tens of thousands of people had their cars repossessed and credit ruined, Sheanin said.

U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford of Santa Ana presided over the case, which concluded with a $432 million settlement finalized in November 2019. In Re Wells Fargo Collateral Protection Insurance Litigation, 17-ML02797 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 18, 2017).

To help plaintiffs feel whole again "is worthwhile," Sheanin added.

Last December, Sheanin was named co-lead counsel in a case filed in the Northern District alleging defendants NHK Spring Co., TDK Corp. and Headway Technologies Inc. agreed not to compete with each other and exchanged pricing information to negotiate with U.S. and foreign customers. In re: Hard Disk Drive Suspension Assemblies Antitrust Litigation, 19-MD02918 (N.D. Cal., transfer order issued Oct. 8, 2019).

In the case, Sheanin represents a class of indirect purchasers of hard disk drive suspension units manufactured by the defendants. The case is in its early stages.

"We're in the middle of litigating motions to dismiss," Sheanin said.

Winning in court aside, Sheanin said the collegiality of his fellow antitrust attorneys is "one of the things I've enjoyed most about my practice."

-- Karen Weil