David Kiernan, Partner-in-Charge of Northern California and a member of the Business & Tort Litigation Practice who resides in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices, and Jeffrey LeVee, a partner in the Antitrust & Competition Law Practice who resides in the Los Angeles Office, were recognized in the Daily Journal's annual list of the "Top Antitrust Lawyers in California." The Daily Journal honors leading California attorneys specializing in plaintiffs, defense and government antitrust work.
Mr. Kiernan and Mr. LeVee were co-lead trial counsel for Sutter Health, a large healthcare system, in securing a complete defense verdict in a landmark class action seeking over $1.2 billion in treble damages. Filed in 2012 on behalf of a class of 3 million individuals and businesses, plaintiffs challenged Sutter’s contracts with insurers like Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Aetna. Plaintiffs alleged that Sutter used market power to force insurers to include all Sutter hospitals in health plan networks, to agree to terms that prevented steering patients to non-Sutter hospitals, and to overcharge for hospital services. During a five-week trial with over 50 witnesses, Jones Day persuaded the jury to reject all plaintiffs’ claims, proving that the contracts benefited patients and did not harm competition. This case was the largest antitrust class action jury trial against a hospital system and makes an important contribution to antitrust law.
Mr. Kiernan has consistently been chosen by clients to be their first chair antitrust litigator in significant, high-profile cases across industries and jurisdictions. He led the defense of Marathon Petroleum in two antitrust class actions in the Southern District of California in which plaintiffs alleged that Marathon and seven other refiners conspired to reduce the supply of gasoline and thus inflate the price charged to gasoline stations and consumers at the pump. In September 2022, the Court granted summary judgment and defendants’ motion to exclude plaintiffs experts. Mr. Kiernan also regularly counsels clients on competition-related matters, including technological interoperability, licensing and pricing issues.
Mr. LeVee is one of the very few lawyers in California who has tried numerous antitrust cases to verdict, including cases for Macy’s, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and Sutter Health, with all three of those juries returning complete defense verdicts. Mr. LeVee also successfully defended Presbyterian Healthcare Services against antitrust claims brought by New Mexico Oncology and Hematology Consultants, which brought monopolization claims against Presbyterian. The case was filed in 2012 and involved several years of extremely active discovery. After obtaining summary judgment in Presbyterian’s favor, he argued the case on appeal in 2021, and the 10th Circuit affirmed.
The pair were also recently recognized as Daily Journal's Top 100 Lawyers in California and Law360 as 2022 MVPs.
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