Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Enhances Antitrust Practice with Two Partners in New York

NEW YORK (January 30, 2013) – Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. is pleased to announce that Hollis Salzman and Kellie Lerner have joined as partners and Bernard Persky joins as Of Counsel, in the firm’s Antitrust practice in New York.  All previously were with Labaton Sucharow LLP in New York, where Ms. Salzman was managing chair and Mr. Persky was the co-chair and founder of that firm’s Antitrust & Competition Litigation Practice. Ms. Salzman will serve as co-chair of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group. 

“The addition of this group of outstanding antitrust lawyers is integral to our strategy for continuing to build one of the most prominent antitrust practices in the country, and we are excited about the growth we are experiencing in our practice. Our clients can expect significant depth and strength of services that will be of tremendous value and benefit,” said K. Craig Wildfang, co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group. 

“We are excited to join the firm's preeminent antitrust group, which is widely regarded as a national powerhouse in the field. The firm's serious commitment to litigating antitrust actions at the highest level and its established trial lawyers were the major factors in our decision to make this move. We are proud to complement this group and look forward to helping further elevate the firm's prominence,” said Ms. Salzman. 

“The growth of the New York office is extremely important to the firm and we are delighted that this group of esteemed lawyers, with such exceptional reputations and wide ranging experience and backgrounds, has decided to join us,” said Ronald J. Schutz, Regional Managing Partner of the New York office, and a member of the firm's Executive Board. 

Hollis Salzman has extensive experience in antitrust litigation and is nationally recognized as one of the leading antitrust plaintiffs' lawyers in the country.  In recent years, Ms. Salzman's exceptional advocacy was recognized by The Lawdragon 500, Benchmark Plaintiff, The Legal 500 and The National Law Journal.  The Legal 500 referred to her as "extremely intelligent with an uncanny ability to control situations to protect her client(s).”   

Ms. Salzman has particular depth of experience in prosecuting antitrust violations against the health care industry and international cartelists.  Her many accomplishments in this area include In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation (almost $500 million in partial settlements from certain defendants to date); In re Lorazepam & Clorazepate Antitrust Litigation ($135.4 million settlement); In re Buspirone Antitrust Litigation ($90 million settlement) and In re Puerto Rican Cabotage Antitrust Litigation ($52 million settlement). She currently serves as court appointed Co-Lead Counsel in In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, a private civil action that stems from one of the largest Department of Justice criminal investigations in United States history.    

Ms. Salzman serves at the highest levels of numerous local and national antitrust bar associations.  She was recently appointed to the Advisory Board of the American Antitrust Institute and is also Chair of the New York State Bar Association's Antitrust Class Action Committee, Co-Chair of its Commercial & Federal Litigation Section Antitrust Committee, and Lead Member of the American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section's International Civil Redress Task Force. She also provides pro bono representation to indigent and working-poor women in matrimonial and family law matters.  

Kellie Lerner represents businesses and governmental entities in high stakes antitrust actions where she has successfully obtained nearly $100 million on behalf of her clients. A litigator for a decade, she has prosecuted a variety of antitrust matters, including those involving price-fixing, unlawful boycotting, monopolization and monopoly leveraging cases. She has worked on several groundbreaking antitrust cases, including serving as a member of the trial team in In re Abbott Laboratories Norvir Antitrust Litigation, which challenged Abbott's 400% price increase of a life-saving HIV medication.  On the eve of trial, the team negotiated a $10 million settlement for the benefit of non-profit organizations serving individuals living with HIV/AIDS. She also played a significant role in In re Flat Glass II Antitrust Litigation (obtaining more than $22 million in settlements) and In re Puerto Rican Cabotage Antitrust Litigation (obtaining $52 million in settlements). A frequent author and lecturer, Ms. Lerner is a recognized voice on all issues of antitrust law and her opinions have been quoted in the Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, Yahoo News and CBS MoneyWatch, among other publications.  She was recently named to Law360's "Rising Star" list of five competition lawyers under 40 to watch. Ms. Lerner is also committed to pro bono service and has provided assistance to AARP and The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under The Law.  She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, Commercial & Federal Litigation Section – Antitrust Committee, the Women in Antitrust Committee, the Antitrust & Trade Reg. Committee of the New York City Bar and the National Association of Women Lawyers.  

Bernard Persky is a nationally-recognized antitrust trial lawyer with more than four decades of experience who has served a key role in numerous high profile antitrust class actions that secured recoveries totaling well more than $1 billion. One of his notable cases included County of Suffolk v. Long Island Lighting Company, in which he served as co-lead trial counsel, and the Second Circuit upheld a $400 million class settlement. Earlier in his career, he defended a major department store chain in a complex antitrust class action involving price-fixing in the retail apparel industry, a case that was heard by the United States Supreme Court (Moitie v. Federated Department Stores, Inc., 452 U.S. 394 (1981)). He is a member on the Advisory Board of the American Antitrust Institute and the Executive Committee of the Antitrust Section of the New York State Bar Association. He also is a regular contributor to legal and business publications and a frequent speaker on antitrust and class action issues. He is recommended by The Legal 500 in the Field of Antitrust Class Action, and has a rating of AV Preeminent from the publishers of the Martindale-Hubbell directory. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, cum laude (1968), and a B.A., cum laude, in City College of the City University of New York (1965).