Karen Hoffman Lent

Practice Areas

Karen Lent is head of the Antitrust/Competition Group in Skadden’s New York office, representing a wide variety of clients in antitrust, sports and other complex litigation matters at both the trial and appellate court levels. She also provides general antitrust counseling.

Co-head of Skadden's Sports Law practice, Ms. Lent also has extensive experience counseling professional sports leagues and teams on a variety of antitrust and sports law matters, including the NBA, NFL, MLS, NHL and NCAA.

Professional Memberships

Ms. Lent serves as Associate Director of the Fordham Competition Law Institute.

Publications

Ms. Lent authors a monthly column on antitrust matters for the New York Law Journal.

Work Highlights

Ms. Lent has handled litigations involving price fixing, group boycotts, monopolization, other restraints of trade and class actions, including recent high-profile wins on behalf of:

• Citibank in class actions alleging price-fixing and/or group boycotts with respect to U.S.-de-nominated supranational, sub-sovereign and agency bonds, VIX products, U.S. treasury bonds, and odd lots of U.S. corporate bonds;

• Columbia University in an antitrust class action alleging price-fixing related to the methodology for determining the financial need of admitted students;

• Intuitive Surgical in securing a favorable settlement of federal antitrust claims alleging monopolization relating to its da Vinci Surgical Systems and EndoWrist instruments;

• LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton in litigation regarding its proposed acquisition of Tiffany & Co.;

• Sprint Corporation in connection with antitrust challenges to its acquisition by T-Mobile;

• Teva Pharmaceuticals in class actions alleging anticompetitive reverse payment settlements regarding branded drugs Lidoderm and Actos; and

• The Vitol Group in class actions alleging price-fixing and market manipulation of North Brent Sea Crude Oil.

Recent sports law representations include:

• Columbia University in a federal lawsuit claiming Ivy League universities colluded to restrict athletic scholarships;

• the NCAA in litigation brought by student-athletes challenging its eligibility rules;

• the NFL in litigation brought by photographers alleging violations of intellectual property and antitrust laws;

• the NFL in a class action brought by retired players alleging negligence in administering prescription painkillers;

• the NCAA, NBA, NFL, NHL and the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball in their suit against the state of New Jersey to prevent the authorization and licensing of gambling on the sports leagues’ athletic events; and

• PGA TOUR in a class action antitrust lawsuit alleging collusion with DP World Tour and other entities to restrain competition from newcomer rival LIV Golf Tour.

Education

Awards