William J. Blechman

Practice Areas

Antitrust Practice

Complex Business Litigation

Securities Litigation and Government Investigations

Career

Experienced trial lawyer William Blechman concentrates on antitrust law. Predominately representing large public and private companies as plaintiffs in individual actions as opposed to handling class actions or mass actions, he also handles antitrust defense, making him one of the rare lawyers who represents both plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust cases.

Bill has represented individual companies and groups of companies, as plaintiffs, in numerous federal antitrust direct (i.e., non-class) actions. With a focus on dominant firm conduct and conspiracies (i.e., cartels) in restraint of trade, he has represented clients in a broad array of industries. These include airlines, beverages, construction, cruise lines, electronics, health care, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, retail, telecommunications, shipping, railroads, and wholesale grocery.

Bill has participated in the civil prosecution of more than 25 domestic or international conspiracies and has been lead counsel in nearly all of the firm’s cartel cases. He assists multinational corporations in formulating and implementing measured and principled strategies to maximize recoveries in these cases, which have spanned the United States, Europe, and Asia and involve proceedings incident to enforcement actions by the United States Department of Justice or foreign competition authorities.

His antitrust cases have involved wide-ranging products, including broiler chickens, cathode ray tubes, citric acid, consumer products, ethylene propylene diene monomer, ferrosilicon, graphite electrodes, hydrogen peroxide, monosodium glutamate, nitrile rubber, nucleotides, packaged seafood, pork, pharmaceuticals, polychloroprene, polyurethane foam, rubber-processing chemicals, sodium perborate, styrene-butadiene butadiene rubber, and vitamins. He also has handled cases involving antitrust allegations regarding currency exchanges, Jones Act shipping rates, and parcel tanker freight rates.

Bill has participated in many antitrust cases challenging conduct by the major credit and debit card networks and their banks that allegedly restrict price competition for merchants’ payment card volume.

In addition to antitrust cases, Bill defends companies in federal criminal grand jury investigations and civil investigations by the FTC and State Attorneys General. He also has represented parties in Federal False Claims Act cases involving the defense, health care, and education industries, which often require coordination with federal and state law enforcement agencies.

Throughout the years, Bill has taught pretrial procedure and practice at a law school, lectured and published papers on antitrust law, and taught seminars on various other topics in the law. His writings have been published in law reviews, legal textbooks, business newspapers, and other periodicals.

Following law school, Bill clerked for the Honorable Jose A. Gonzalez Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and later served as a Special Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust, for the State of Michigan.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association

- Past Vice-Chair, Cartel and Criminal Practice Committee, Antitrust Section, 2010-2013

- Litigation Section

- Past Co-Chair, Trial Practice Committee, Antitrust Section, 2004-2007

The Florida Bar

- Board Certified, Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law, 2006

- Vice-Chair, Antitrust & Trade Regulation Law Certification Committee, 2020-2021

- Business Law Section

Personal

Admissions:

District of Columbia

Florida

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

Supreme Court of Florida

Awards

Experience

Direct (i.e., Non-Class) Actions – Antitrust Cases:

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Corporation and U.S. Steel v. Elkem Metals Co., etc. (W.D. Pa.); Unilever United States, Inc. v. Daicel Ltd. (N.D. Cal.); The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company v. Bayer AG (N.D. Ohio); Kroger Co., Safeway, Inc., etc. v. Visa USA, MasterCard International, etc. (E.D.N.Y.); Spirit Airlines, Inc. v. Northwest Airlines, Inc. (E.D. Mich.); Leiner Health Products Co., NBTY Inc., etc. v. F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd., etc. (D.D.C.); Republic Engineered Steels v. SGL Carbon AG, etc. (E.D. Pa.); ConAgra Foods Co., etc. v. International Paper Co., etc. (W.D. Pa.); Reckitt Benckiser Inc. v. Solvay S.A., etc. (E.D. Pa.); Hy-Vee, etc. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield (N.D. Ala.); Sealy Corp, Serta, Simmons Bedding, Tempur-Pedic, La-Z-Boy etc. v. Carpenter Co., etc. (N.D. Ohio); State of Michigan ex rel. Frank Kelly v. Hoekstra Bus Co., etc. (W.D. Mich.); Ad-Vantage Telephone Directory Consultants, Inc. v. GTE Directories Corporation (M.D. Fla.); Walgreen Co., Albertson’s, etc. v. American Express (S.D.N.Y.); Sears v. Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (N.D. Cal.); US Foods, etc. v. Smithfield Foods, etc. (D. Mn.); Kraft Heinz, UPM Kymmene, Cemex, etc. v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., etc. (D.D.C.).

Other Representative Matters:

Represented multinational automobile manufacturers in an antitrust action against their suppliers for conspiring to fix prices of ferroalloys.

Represented national supermarket chains, drug store chains, a multinational rental car company, multinational cruise line companies, an airline, and national automotive supply firms in antitrust actions against the major 4-party payment card networks for conspiring not to compete and monopolization of certain markets.

Represented national retailers in an antitrust action against the major 3-party payment card network for contracts in restraint of trade and monopolization of certain markets.

Represented a multinational tire manufacturer in the prosecution of several international cartels involving key products in the company’s supply chain.

Represented consumer products companies in a multidistrict antitrust case against the major integrated manufacturers of linerboard and corrugated boxes.

Represented national chains with drug stores in an antitrust action against the manufacturers of generic drugs for conspiring to fix prices.

Represented the Attorneys General of several States in prosecuting (or advising about) bid rigging cases involving dairy, road construction, and school bus contracts.

Represented a low-fare airline in a predatory pricing case against a legacy carrier. In the case, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the low-fare carrier on its predation claims – a landmark decision with implications not just for the airline industry but for other industries as well. The decision is the only time an airline has prevailed on a predation claim in an appellate court and one of the few appellate decisions for a plaintiff on a predation claim.

Represented national drug store chains in a price discrimination action against branded drug manufacturers.

Represented a steel company in a multidistrict antitrust action against domestic and foreign suppliers of materials used to make steel.

Represented national retailers in a multidistrict antitrust action against the major producers of shelf-stable packaged seafood products for conspiring to fix prices.

Represented national mattress manufacturers in a multidistrict antitrust action against their polyurethane foam suppliers for conspiring to fix prices.

Represented a multinational consumer products company in several multidistrict antitrust actions against suppliers for conspiring to fix prices of a number of food supplements.

Represented another multinational consumer products company in a multidistrict antitrust action involving an international conspiracy to fix prices of a chemical used in consumer products.

Represented supermarket chains and a national food distributor in an antitrust action against pork producers.

Represented six of the ten largest producers of vitamins for human consumption in the United States, including the largest such firm, in a multidistrict antitrust action concerning an international cartel of vitamin manufacturers.

Represented national accounts in an antitrust action against a major healthcare insurer.

Represented a national retailer in an antitrust action against foreign manufacturers and their domestic distributors for conspiring to fix the price of a consumer electronics component.

Represented multinational firms in an antitrust action against Jones Act shippers for conspiring to fix prices.

Represented pulp and paper manufacturers, consumer products companies, and building materials companies in a multidistrict antitrust action against the major railroads for conspiring to fix prices.

Represented supermarket and restaurant chains in antitrust actions against producers of broiler chicken, pork, and beef.

Education