Antitrust Violation Investigations Demand Proactive Response
If you’ve received notice that the DOJ is investigating you or your company, consult an antitrust defense attorney immediately. Being proactive is essential in antitrust cases. Involving an experienced lawyer at the earliest stage possible can make a difference.
Attorney Dan C. Guthrie Jr. from Guthrie PLLC understands how federal investigations are prepared and will act quickly to protect your reputation and avoid an indictment.
If you’re under investigation, he will work for you. He is keenly aware of the necessity for company employees to have legal representation that is truly independent of the company’s representation to fully protect their rights.
Antitrust Violations Are Serious Matters
Under the Sherman Antitrust Act, price fixing and market allocations are illegal. Competitors must not collude to determine the cost of products in a way that harms the public. The courts view price fixing as either “illegal per se” – when competitors conspire to charge higher prices – or when suppliers and manufacturers conspire “vertically” to raise consumer costs.
If the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice believes that a decision to raise prices is the result of an agreement with a competitor to do so, the burden to prove otherwise falls on the defendant in order to prevent an indictment and the enormous damage caused by it to a person’s or company’s reputation.
Fighting Criminal Charges Of Price Fixing And Other Antitrust Violations
In each instance, competitors putting each other in deals (“deal trading”), price adjustments, competitive price matching and territorial divisions may look like an illegal violation of antitrust laws to federal prosecutors.
As a former federal prosecutor, he understands how large federal antitrust investigations are conducted by the government and what must be done to effectively defend these allegations. He has even appeared at a seminar sponsored by the State Bar of Texas with an attorney from the Antitrust Division to teach other lawyers how to represent clients in antitrust investigations and trials.
Allegations Of Price Fixing
Mr. Guthrie represents clients accused of antitrust law violations such as:
- Artificially inflating prices
- Bid rigging
- Collusion to divide up business territories
- Fixing minimum pricing schedules
- Selling goods below market value
- Dumping to temporarily decrease prices
- Conspiring to reduce competition
- Deal trading
Don’t wait to protect your future and your professional reputation. Call 214-953-1000 to get started on your case today.
Determining Economic Harm And Criminal Intent
To convict the defendant of price fixing, the prosecution must establish that the defendant intentionally conspired to fix prices or harm competition. What may be a strategic positioning of resources or a creative pricing schedule may look like price fixing to a federal investigator. That’s why retaining legal representation as early as possible is important.
Using Former FBI And IRS Agents Along With Cutting-Edge Technology
Mr. Guthrie collaborates with former FBI and IRS special agents, computer forensic experts and highly skilled forensic accountants.
Your legal team will use the latest software technology available to organize and analyze the vast amounts of electronically stored information (ESI) typically subpoenaed by the government in cases like yours. This subpoenaed ESI typically includes documents, emails, text messages and hard drives from copying machines.
After reviewing the information, he can piece together the evidence the government believes proves an antitrust violation and then devise an effective defensive strategy to do everything possible to prevent an indictment.
If a trial can’t be avoided, his extensive courtroom experience and meticulous preparation allow him to mount the most aggressive defense possible.
Have more questions about what Mr. Guthrie can do for you? Schedule an initial consultation with him via the firm’s contact page today.
