Veteran Lawyer's New Firm To Focus on Global Cartels
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Attorney Michael D. Hausfeld has represented Alaskans suing over the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Holocaust victims battling Swiss banks and consumers in a variety of antitrust cases.
Now he has started a law firm with a special focus on protecting businesses against global cartels. Say you're a manufacturer with plants in five countries, and you need widgets to make your product. If widget-makers have a global cartel, you have been hurt in all five countries and should be able to recover in all of them, Hausfeld thinks. He said the increasingly global nature of business has meant a rise in international cartel behavior.
"There's a great deal of cartel activity, which has occurred over the last five to 10 years, which has gone unremedied," Hausfeld said.
Last month, Hausfeld LLP announced that it opened its headquarters at 1700 K St. NW in Washington. The firm, which started in November in other quarters, said it has been named co-lead counsel in 17 major cases since then. It has a presence in New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. It has plans for a London office and is working on a joint venture with a Chinese firm.
Hausfeld said he "was separated" last year from what was then Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, where he was head of the antitrust group. With his new firm, he wanted to focus on global issues and represent only plaintiffs.
"Global wrongs must be accountable to global rights," he said in a statement. "At the same time, U.S.-based corporations are seeking to not only have their interests protected domestically, but in every country they operate -- and we look forward to assisting these claimants in global recovery efforts."
-- Terri Rupar
