Martin M. Toto concentrates in US antitrust law and trade regulation, including (1) criminal investigations and litigation; (2) civil litigation; (3) the antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions and the Hart-Scott-Rodino merger review process; and (4) antitrust counseling. His practice focuses on representation of multinational corporations—often based abroad.  He has worked on obtaining antitrust clearance for numerous mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures and has coordinated the European Union and other worldwide merger notifications for transactions requiring clearance in foreign jurisdictions.  He has defended clients before the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Mr. Toto also has advised companies on virtually all aspects of antitrust law, including those relating to intellectual property, vertical restraints, monopolization, concerted activity and price fixing, trade association activity, resale price maintenance and price discrimination.  He has worked on transactions, litigation and investigations in a variety of industries, including advertising, banking and financial services, chemicals, computer equipment and software, construction equipment, consumer electronics, credit reporting and scoring, defense, food processing, mining, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, publishing, pulp and paper, retail sales, semiconductors, shipping and telecommunications.

Recent matters handled by Mr. Toto include:

• complete victory for Experian (one of the three national credit bureaus) in a civil case brought by FICO, challenging VantageScore, a joint venture of the three credit bureaus, which has introduced a new credit risk score into the market dominated by the FICO score—the antitrust and false advertising claims were dismissed on summary judgment and the remaining trademark claims were tried to a jury which issued a favorable verdict for defendants on all claims and counterclaims;
• successful defense of Stolt-Nielsen, including dismissal of criminal indictment against  the company after a four-week evidentiary hearing in an unprecedented case brought against the company after it had obtained amnesty from the Department of Justice and provided critical, incriminating evidence against its co-conspirators;
• representation of Toshiba in cases related to alleged price fixing in LCDs;
• ongoing defense of several companies in criminal price fixing investigations;
• merger trial and investigation related to the proposed acquisition by UPM-Kymmene of MACtac, which was challenged by the Department of Justice;
• the acquisition by the Finnish company, Metso Corporation, of one of its principal competitors, Svedala, in which a novel consent decree was negotiated with the FTC;
• the sale of the dairy businesses of Wessanen N.V. to National Dairy Holdings, investigated by the Department of Justice, which helped create the nation’s second-largest dairy company;
• the acquisition by the Swiss-Swedish engineering company, ABB, of Elsag Bailey Process Automation N.V., which was reviewed by the FTC and European Commission;
• the FTC’s investigation of the proposed merger of Staples and Office Depot and the FTC’s court challenge of the transaction;
• Raytheon’s acquisition of the defense business of Texas Instruments and its merger with Hughes Aircraft, which were reviewed by the Department of Justice and several foreign merger control authorities;
• the FTC’s investigation of a joint venture in lubricants between Exxon and Shell; and
• the acquisition by the Dutch company Royal Ahold of the Stop & Shop supermarket chain, which was reviewed by the FTC and several state Attorneys General.

Bars and Courts
New York State Bar, 1995
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
US District Court for the District of New Jersey

Education
JD, New York University School of Law, Journal Editor, Annual Survey of American Law, 1994
BS, (Hons.), Lehigh University, 1991

Professional Associations and Memberships
American Bar Association, Member, Antitrust Section
New York City Bar Association

Publications
Contributing author to International Antitrust Cooperation Handbook (published by the American Bar Association, 2004)
"Federal Trade Commission Revises Rules on Acquisitions of Foreign Assets and Voting Securities," The Antitrust Counselor, Issue No. 95, November 15, 2002
"US Antitrust Issues in Software, Licensing and Distribution," Computer und Recht International, June 2002 (co-authored with David Bender)

Languages
English

Citizenship
United States