Hilary K. Scherrer

EXPERIENCE

Antitrust/Competition

• In re District of Columbia v. Amazon.com, Inc., - Hausfeld is the sole law firm retained to represent the District of Columbia in its antitrust lawsuit against Amazon for anticompetitive conduct relating to its first-party and third-party sellers on Amazon.com. The case involves complex questions relating to definition of markets and market power of online platforms. It includes multiple claims under District of Columbia statutes analogous to Sherman Act Sections 1 and 2, including agreements in restraint of trade, monopolization, and attempted monopolization.
• In re Domestic Airline Travel Antitrust Litigation – Currently leading this class action lawsuit alleging a conspiracy by United, American, Delta, and Southwest to artificially inflate domestic airline ticket prices by limiting capacity growth. Although discovery is ongoing, settlements total $60 million to date.
• In re NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litigation – Was one of the lead attorneys in this case, also known as the O’Bannon case. In O’Bannon, current and former student- athletes alleged that the NCAA and others conspired to pay nothing for the use of athletes’ names, images, and likenesses. This case, which has garnered significant press attention, was the first case to find the NCAA’s rules and bylaws violate the antitrust laws.
• In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation – Was one of the lead attorneys in this case which settled with the last of nearly thirty defendants shortly before trial. Settlements in the case totaled more than $1.2 billion.
• In re Local TV Advertising Antitrust Litigation – Serves as one of the lead attorneys in a class action lawsuit alleging that television broadcast station owners exchanged competitively sensitive information and fixed prices for broadcast television advertising.
• In re Fragrance Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation - Hilary is appointed Co-Lead Counsel for a class of direct fragrance purchasers against the four largest suppliers of fragrances and fragrance ingredients in the world, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF), Symrise AG, Givaudan SA, and Firmenich SA, for potential price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct in the fragrance industry.

Commercial & Financial Disputes

• In re Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation – Currently leading this class action lawsuit alleging a global conspiracy by some of the world’s largest financial institutions to manipulate LIBOR. The manipulation of LIBOR, which is the primary benchmark for short-term interest rates for trillions of dollars-worth of financial transactions worldwide, is alleged to have caused billions of dollars in damage to municipalities, businesses, and investors. Hilary was instrumental in the briefing and expert work resulting in certification of the over-the-counter class. She has also been instrumental in settlement negotiations, which have resulted in settlements with four out of the sixteen defendants totaling $590 million to date.
• In re Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index Manipulation Antitrust Litigation – Currently serving on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in this class action lawsuit alleging that financial institutions conspired to post bids on certain S&P 500 options to influence the CBOE-Special Opening Quotation (“SOQ”) formula that calculates settlement prices of VIX instruments.
• Schwab v. Philip Morris USA et al. – Plaintiffs alleged a RICO conspiracy and fraud in connection with the marketing and sale of “light” cigarettes.

Human Rights

• Represented Holocaust victims in a breach of contract case alleging certain German corporations failed to pay appropriate interest due to their payments to reparations funds.

Public Entity

We have extensive experience representing public and governmental entities, including state Attorneys General Offices, municipal utility boards, and counties in high-stakes investigations and litigation involving a variety of legal practice areas, including antitrust, consumer protection, financial services, and environmental law. Hilary's public entity experience includes: 

• Representing the District of Columbia in a case against Amazon, Inc. regarding Amazon's imposition of anticompetitive agreements on its sellers.