Ashby Jones at the WSJ Law Blog has a nice summary of the two big investigations into IBM’s alleged anticompetitive practices announced by the European Union.
As is being batted around a lot today, IBM is no stranger to antitrust investigations. The company went through a 13-year fight, from 1969-1982 that set all sorts of records at the time for length, motions, document produced, and on and on. 72 linear feet of documents are maintained in an archive, for those who are curious (and weird).
There are scores of Cravath lawyers who grew up doing antitrust work for IBM, the most notable of whom is probably David Boies. The IBM antitrust case is also the source of the legendary tale of the lawyer who billed more than 24 hours in a day, according to The Partners: Inside America’s Most Powerful Law Firms (aff link).
But the latest action is happening in Europe, where Cravath isn’t historically strong in antitrust.
After the jump, we speculate on who might get the work (and one firm we’re pretty sure won’t).
Cravath still must be considered, however. The firm’s one non-US office is in London, and does have some antitrust capability over there. Cravath also has been handling the recent US investigation of basically the same behavior. If nothing else, they’ll play a lead role coordinating the response to the US and EU actions.
IBM used two other firms in getting dismissal of a recent civil suit that also related to similar behavior: Quinn Emanuel and Hogan & Hartson.
Quinn Emanuel has been rolling out a London practice this year, but there’s no way they’re up to leading something like this. A few months ago the office brought in a fourth partner.
Hogan Lovells, on the other hand, has extensive competition capacity and experience in Europe, mostly through the legacy Lovells side of the business.
One firm to bet against: Covington & Burling. The firm has been doing some antitrust work for Microsoft, including tattling on Google (last item). But what IBM really won’t like is that it thinks Microsoft is using T3 as a shill to cause all these problems in the first place.
There are tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars in billable hours at stake here. What other firms do you think might be in, or out?
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