Adam M. Acosta

Partner, Washington, DC

Biography

“Adam Acosta has a strong reputation for successfully handling government investigations and litigating cartel/conspiracy antitrust cases, including a recent string of client wins in the franchisor-franchisee, hospitality, and pharmaceutical sectors.”
Legal 500 US

Overview

Adam Acosta is a litigation partner focusing on complex commercial disputes. He is recognized as a "Leading Litigator in America" (Lawdragon 500, 2023) and a "Next Generation Partner" (Legal 500 US, 2023), and was recently named "MVP" by Law360 for his "successes in high-stakes litigation."

Adam has successfully litigated a wide range of commercial disputes. He has extensive experience litigating all types of antitrust and consumer-protection cases and is known as "a key player" in complex antitrust litigation (Legal 500 US, 2021). He has also handled many other types of high-stake disputes, including intellectual property, contract, business tort, securities, False Claims Act, and Anti-Terrorism Act cases. Many of these cases are nationwide putative class actions seeking injunctive relief and billions of dollars in damages, and often involve parallel government investigations in the US and abroad.

Representative examples of his litigation experience include:

  • Successful defense of Boston Scientific's subsidiary BTG International Ltd. against "sham litigation" claims related to patent litigation for Zytiga®, a leading prostate-cancer treatment. The district court dismissed all antitrust and consumer-protection claims by direct and indirect-purchaser plaintiffs as well as claims by a Qui Tam plaintiff under the False Claims Act. BTG was the only defendant dismissed in all three cases given our novel arguments under BTG's royalty license agreement.
  • Successful defense of Restaurant Brands International and Tim Hortons, obtaining an early dismissal of all breach-of-contract and product-tying claims at the motion-to-dismiss stage, eliminating the need for any discovery and prolonged litigation.
  • Successful opposition to direct-purchaser plaintiffs' motion for class certification in the AndroGel® reverse-payment litigation in which plaintiffs sought several billion dollars in alleged class damages. The court denied the motion for class certification in its entirety.
  • Successful defense of Warner Chilcott against "product hopping" monopolization claims in the Doryx® antitrust litigation, securing the first ever grant of summary judgment against such claims. The Third Circuit affirmed on appeal.
  • Successful defense of Toshiba in a multi-billion dollar price-fixing case as part of the trial team that won a complete defense verdict after a multi-week jury trial.

Counseling and risk mitigation is also a cornerstone of Adam's practice. He routinely works with clients on compliance and competition-related counseling involving competitor collaborations, competitive intelligence, trade associations, noncompete agreements, pricing issues, exclusivity agreements, and various other business initiatives.

As a past President of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia (HBA-DC), Adam led one of the most active bar associations in the Washington, DC area in 2021. He served as a board member for HBA-DC from 2015 to 2022 and is an active member of the American Bar Association and Hispanic National Bar Association.

Before joining White & Case, Adam completed a two-year clerkship in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Bars and Courts
District of Columbia Bar
Indiana State Bar
US District Court for the District of Columbia
US District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Indiana
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
US Supreme Court
Education
JD
Howard University School of Law

cum laude, Howard Law Journal, Dean's Fellow

BA
University of Maryland College Park
Languages
English

Experience

Representative Litigation Matters

  • Successful defense of Boston Scientific's subsidiary BTG International Ltd. against "sham litigation" claims related to patent litigation for Zytiga®. The district court dismissed all antitrust and consumer-protection claims by direct- and indirect-purchaser plaintiffs as well as claims by a Qui Tam plaintiff under the False Claims Act. BTG was the only defendant dismissed in all three cases.
  • Successful defense of Restaurant Brands International and Tim Hortons, obtaining dismissal of all franchise product-tying and breach-of-contract claims at the motion-to-dismiss stage.
  • Successful defense of Toshiba in a multi-billion dollar price-fixing case as part of the trial team that won a complete defense verdict after a multi-week jury trial.
  • Successful defense of Warner Chilcott against "product hopping" monopolization claims in the Doryx® antitrust litigation, securing the first ever grant of summary judgment against such claims. The Third Circuit affirmed on appeal.
  • Successful defense of AbbVie in "reverse payment" litigation, obtaining complete dismissal of all antitrust and consumer-protection claims filed by direct-purchaser, indirect-purchaser, and opt-out retailer plaintiffs.
  • Successful opposition to direct-purchaser plaintiffs' motion for class certification in the AndroGel®  "reverse payment" litigation in which plaintiffs sought several billion dollars in alleged class damages. The court denied the motion for class certification in its entirety.
  • Successful defense of Allergan related to alleged "reverse payment" and "product hopping" claims in the Asacol® antitrust litigation. On the eve of opening arguments, the First Circuit stayed the trial and granted a rare interlocutory appeal, ultimately vacating the federal district court's certification of an indirect-purchaser class.
  • Successful defense of Gilead Sciences in the In re HIV Antitrust Litigation, including by (i) securing dismissal of all "product hopping" and joint-venture claims on summary judgment, (ii) obtaining dismissal of a direct-purchaser complaint on statute-of-limitations grounds, despite allegations of fraudulent concealment, and (iii) defeating a motion to certify a class consisting of direct purchasers of HIV treatment Complera®. A jury subsequently found for defendants on all remaining claims at trial.
  • Successful defense of Par Pharmaceutical and Paddock Laboratories in the seminal FTC v. Actavis litigation concerning "reverse payment" claims. After the US Supreme Court's decision in FTC v. Actavis, Inc., 570 U.S. 136 (2013) and follow-on litigation by the FTC in federal district court, the FTC voluntarily dismissed its claims with prejudice for zero damages, no liability, and no injunctive relief beyond that already agreed to previously by the client's corporate parent in an unrelated matter.

Representative Government-Investigation Matters

  • Successfully counseled internet/tech company concerning a consumer-protection investigation by the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
  • Successful representation of entertainment/hospitality client in a conduct investigation by the DOJ's Antitrust Division and a state attorney general.
  • Successful representation of manufacturing client in multiple price-fixing investigations by the FTC and the DOJ's Antitrust Division.
  • Successful representation of two pharmaceutical companies in an investigation by a state attorney general involving their enforcement of intellectual-property rights.
  • Successful representation and antitrust approval from the FTC related to Federal Mogul's acquisition of Affinia Group, Inc.'s chassis-components business.
  • Successful representation of various companies in responding to Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) issued by the DOJ's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission.

Representative Counseling and Compliance Matters

  • Counseled a trade association concerning the FTC's proposed rule on non-compete agreements.
  • Counseled global tech company on various regulatory initiatives related to competition on its social-media platform.
  • Counseled national foodservice distributor concerning a proposed multi-billion-dollar acquisition.
  • Counseled global pharma company concerning information exchanges and competitive intelligence, developing an antitrust compliance program focusing on the United States, Europe, and Asia.
  • Counseled global pharmaceutical company concerning pricing and supply chain issues.
  • Counseled global gaming company concerning potential antitrust issues related to acquisitions.
  • Counseled global automotive manufacturer on antitrust compliance and training.
  • Counseled pharmaceutical companies in connection with settling patent litigation and reporting requirements under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA).