Benz F. Steven

Steven F. Benz

Partner

Office Phone

202.326.7929

Education

  • Stanford Law School, J.D., 1990
    • President, Stanford Law Review, 1989-1990
  • Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, M.A.L.D., 1985
  • Johns Hopkins University, B.A., general honors, departmental honors, 1983
    • Phi Beta Kappa

Government Service

  • Major, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, 113th Fighter Wing, DC Air National Guard and US Air Force Reserve, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, 1991-1998

Admitted

  • 1990, Minnesota
  • 1990, Iowa
  • 1991, District of Columbia
  • 1993, Supreme Court of the United States
  • 1996, Maryland

Steven F. Benz represents corporations as plaintiffs in antitrust, unfair competition, class action, and complex commercial cases in federal and state courts in the United States and in matters relating to the abuse of dominance and cartels in the European Union.  He has more than 30 years of litigation and counseling experience and has served as counsel of record in more than 150 litigated cases, trials, and appeals.

Steve has spearheaded pioneering cases that involve the convergence of competition law and intellectual property rights.  These cases encompass monopolization, price fixing, federal and state class actions, as well as claims under state antitrust and unfair competition laws.  His work extends to breach of contract, fraudulent transfer, and deceptive trade practices litigation.

Presently, Steve is representing Veeva Systems Inc. in antitrust claims against IQVIA Incorporated and IMS Software Services Ltd. in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.  This dispute, titled IQVIA Inc., et al. v. Veeva Systems Inc. and Veeva Systems Inc. v. IQVIA Inc., et al., centers on allegations that IQVIA has leveraged monopoly power to prevent the utilization of Veeva’s data products and software solutions by life sciences companies.  Seeking injunctive relief and monetary damages exceeding $200 million, Veeva is resolutely pursuing justice.

Furthermore, Steve’s notable achievements include his role as co-lead counsel in The Dial Corporation, et al. v. News Corporation, et al.  This Sherman Act monopolization case revolved around third-party in-store promotions.  Through his strategic guidance, a settlement of $250 million was secured on the first day of trial in 2016.  The settlement also delivered significant injunctive relief to Steve's clients and the certified class of 699 CPG companies.  Praised by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as among the “finest antitrust lawyers in the nation,” Steve’s work in this case earned recognition as an “outstanding litigation achievement in private law practice” by the American Antitrust Institute.

Achievements

  • Global Leader, Competition – Plaintiff – Who’s Who Legal (2021 – 2023)
  • Best Lawyers in America®: for Litigation – Antitrust by Best Lawyers (2023)
  • American Antitrust Institute, Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement (Private Enforcement) (2017)
  • Local Litigation Star, Competition / Antitrust – Benchmark Litigation
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
  • AV Preeminent® – Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™

Recent and Noteworthy Supreme Court Representations

  • Represented the trustee for Ritz Camera & Image, LLC, CPM Electronics Inc., and E.S.E Electronics, Inc., and the certified direct purchaser class in Alfred T. Guliano, et al. v. SanDisk Corporation, Case No. CV 10-02787-SBA (N.D. Cal.) (Judge Armstrong), in a Walker Process (fraud on the Patent and Trademark Office) Sherman Act monopolization case.
  • Represented a corporate client and the direct purchaser class in MDL No. 2420, In Re: Lithium Ion Batteries Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 4:13-md-02420-YGR (N.D. Cal.) (Judge Rogers).
  • In 2012, Steve achieved a significant ruling from the Federal Circuit in Ritz Camera & Image, LLC v. SanDisk Corporation,700 F.3d 503 (Fed. Cir. 2012).  The Federal Circuit held that direct purchasers have standing to pursue Walker Process (fraud on the Patent and Trademark Office) antitrust claims.  Supporting amicus briefs were submitted by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, more than 30 state Attorneys General, and more than 30 law professors.
  • Steve and his partners were retained by AT&T Inc. to serve as lead trial counsel in the Department of Justice lawsuit to enjoin the merger of AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA, Inc., United States of America v. AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA, Inc., and Deutsche Telekom AG, Civil No. 11-01560 (ESH) (D.D.C.).
  • Steve was one of the lead attorneys in Conwood Co. v. United States Tobacco Co.,290 F.3d 768 (6th Cir. 2002), in which the firm won the largest Sherman Act § 2 damages award in history for our client.  A jury awarded a judgment (after trebling) of $1.05 billion.  This verdict was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit in 2002.
  • Steve was one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs in Coordination Proceedings Special Title (Rule 1550(b)) Microsoft I – V Cases,C.C.P. No. 4106 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Fran.).  He investigated, drafted, and filed the complaint in Lingo, et al. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 301357 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Fran.), which became the lead case against Microsoft in California after consolidation, on February 18, 1999.  On January 10, 2003, plaintiffs’ counsel and the class representatives reached an agreement with Microsoft on a settlement, which provided $1.1 billion in monetary benefits to California consumers and municipalities.  This settlement is the largest recovery of a monopoly overcharge ever achieved in the United States and the largest recovery ever achieved under California’s Cartwright Act or California’s Unfair Competition Act.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

Speaking Engagements

Conferences

  • Antitrust Litigation Forum, Scottsdale, Arizona (October 15-17, 2023)
  • Antitrust Litigation Forum, Charleston, South Carolina (October 27-30, 2019)
  • International Referral Global Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany (September 9-12, 2017)
  • Antitrust Litigation Forum, Scottsdale, Arizona (October 21-23, 2018)
  • Antitrust Litigation Forum, Nashville, Tennessee (October 22-24, 2017)
  • Antitrust Litigation Forum, Nashville, Tennessee (October 22-24, 2017)

News

May 21, 2024
Chinese State-Owned Enterprise Faces Potential Multi-Billion-Dollar Judgment as Sanction for “Malign” Discovery Misconduct

May 21,  2024— Chinese state-owned enterprise Irico Group Corporation and its subsidiary Irico Display Devices Co. face a potential default judgment for more than $2.4 billion in a long-running price-fixing lawsuit brought by classes of American purchasers of cathode ray tubes.  Special Master Vaughn R. Walker, appointed by U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar, recommended the default judgment as a sanction for discovery misconduct. The Special Master’s report and recommendation found that Irico’s misconduct over the course of the litigation showed “contempt for th[e] court,” “defied the basic responsibilities of a civil litigant in the United States,” and reflected a “malign strategy” under which “evidence . . . grew stale” and “Irico’s own witnesses . . . disappeared.”  The report included a litany of specific examples including failures to preserve and spoliation of both electronic and physical evidence, false representations to the court, an appeal that delayed the litigation for a year, and failures to produce key witnesses.  It concluded that no sanction less than a default judgment would suffice as a remedy. Judge Tigar will now consider whether to adopt the Special Master’s report and recommendation.  If that occurs, Irico will be required to pay plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, and the court will determine the total damages due. The direct purchaser class of plaintiffs is represented by R. Alexander Saveri, Geoffrey C. Rushing, Matthew D. Heaphy and David Y. Hwu of Saveri & Saveri Inc.; Steven F. Benz, Gregory G. Rapawy, and Robert C. Klipper of Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC.  The indirect purchaser class of plaintiffs is represented by Mario N. Alioto and Lauren C. Capurro of Trump Alioto Trump & Prescott LLP; and Joseph W. Cotchett, Adam J. Zapala, James Gerard Beebe Dallal, and Imtiaz A. Siddiqui of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP. The case is In re Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1917, No. 4:07-cv-05944, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. ..

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October 14, 2017
Kellogg Hansen Honored by the American Antitrust Institute

October 14, 2017 — The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) named Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C. a 2017 Antitrust Enforcement Awards honoree for \"Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice.\"  Kellogg Hansen was chosen for successfully representing six corporate class representative clients in The Dial Corporation, et al. v. News Corporation, et al., Civ. Action No. 13-CV-06802 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y). Steven Benz, Kellogg Hansen partner and co-lead counsel, will accept the award on behalf of the firm.  In this Sherman Act monopolization case involving in-store promotions, Kellogg Hansen represented the Dial Corporation, Henkel Consumer Goods, Inc., Kraft Heinz Foods Company, H.J. Heinz Company, L.P., Foster Poultry Farms, Smithfield Foods, Inc., HP Hood, LLC, and BEF Foods, Inc.  On the first day of trial, Mr. Benz secured a settlement of $250 million and significant injunctive relief for both his clients and the certified class of 699 consumer product goods (CPG) companies. Kellogg Hansen will be honored along with co-counsel, Susman Godfrey L.L.P., McKool Smith PC, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, and Berry Law PLLC.  The honorees will be recognized at the AAI gala dinner on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, following the AAI’s Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference. ..

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