Brendan A. McShane

Brendan's experience includes representing:

Litigation

• Cendyn Group, LLC, a leading software developer for hospitality companies, in antitrust litigation alleging that casino hotels in Las Vegas and Atlantic City colluded to raise hotel room prices via the hotels’ adoption of Cendyn’s revenue management software
• A major retailer in three putative class actions alleging a vertical price-fixing conspiracy to stabilize retail pricing for disposable battery products
• Fanatics, a global digital sports platform that offers licensed sports merchandise, trading cards, and collectibles, in multiple consumer and distributor antitrust class actions challenging Fanatics’ separate licensing and online retail distribution arrangements with the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) 
• Ferrellgas (d/b/a Blue Rhino) in defending against multiple class action lawsuits by direct and indirect purchaser plaintiffs alleging that Blue Rhino and its competitor conspired to reduce the fill-level in propane exchange tanks sold to retailers across the country; the Latham team defeated class certification, eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged damages
• Hyatt Corporation in its successful defense of government investigations and multiple lawsuits alleging that major hotel companies conspired to restrict the purchase and use of trademarked keyword search terms in internet search engine advertising
• MGM Studios in connection with Amazon’s US$8.5 billion acquisition of MGM
• Toshiba and its joint venture affiliates in their successful defense of several multidistrict cases filed by putative class- and direct-action purchasers who alleged more than US$3 billion in damages from a global price-fixing conspiracy among suppliers of optical disk drives, in which the team defeated certification of a direct purchaser class and then obtained summary judgment against the remaining indirect purchaser and direct action purchaser plaintiffs
• Waddell & Reed (W&R) in defeating a complaint filed by Top Rank Boxing that alleged W&R and boxing manager Al Haymon violated the antitrust laws by entering into a series of tie-out and exclusive dealing agreements to monopolize the market for promoting professional boxing; secured dismissal with prejudice of all claims against W&R in what The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily referred to as an “unequivocal win”
• Orbitz Worldwide in two separate lawsuits — a multidistrict action challenging the “rate parity” provisions in supply agreements between major hotel chains and online travel agencies as illegal resale price maintenance and a lawsuit in which American Airlines asserted exclusive dealing, conspiracy to monopolize, and group boycott claims in connection with airline ticket distribution
• Electronic Arts in its successful defense of a billion-dollar class action challenging EA’s exclusive licensing agreements with the NFL, NCAA, and ESPN as unlawful monopolization
• Chevron in its successful defense of a putative statewide class action, asserting claims that Chevron was liable under state unfair competition and consumer fraud statutes for selling motor fuel at a specified “price per gallon” without disclosing or adjusting for temperature expansion; California Daily Journal recognized Chevron’s dismissal of the lawsuit as a Top Defense Verdict
• Oracle in its successful trial defense against a DOJ lawsuit to enjoin Oracle’s acquisition of PeopleSoft, which the National Law Journal recognized as 2004’s Top Defense Win

Government Investigations

• An online gaming and broadcast company in a DOJ investigation
• A hospitality company in an FTC investigation
• An entertainment and sports talent representation company in a DOJ investigation 
• A major technology company in a DOJ criminal investigation and related investigations by foreign competition authorities in multiple jurisdictions
• A major healthcare company in an FTC investigation